I find it is generally better to draw a merciful veil over politicians’ tweets or comments on social media. For the most part they are bland bites of propaganda (government MPs – that’s you), silly taunts (over to the Nationalist side) and peppered with far too many exclamation marks (all of you exclamation mark obsessives).

Then there’s the fact that politicians feel they have to add to the world supply of corny Paolo Coelho-inspired sayings, coupled with the obligatory picture of a sunset or a kitten.

Or there is the butt-clenchingly embarrassing outpouring of too much information. We really can live without reading about the graphic details of how you celebrated your anniversary – you know who, you are Politician Guilty Of Oversharing.

So all in all, I find that Maltese politicians and Facebook do not make for a good mix. Maybe it’s a generation thing or the fact that it hasn’t yet seeped in that one’s tweets or comments are available to a wide (and unforgiving) audience for all posterity, but it’s mostly a case of looking away fast when a politician’s status gets updated.

I make a limited exception for the updates of the Education Minister Evarist Bartolo. Check that – I make an exception for some of Bartolo’s posts – the ones about his daily walk. Every morning, long before the traffic stops being a perception, Bartolo goes for a walk. And on his return, he tells us all about it online. These daily posts have amassed something of a cult following, with a small number of people taking it upon themselves to repost and comment.

There is much discussion as to whether these excursions into the great wild Maltese outdoors really take place. The suspicions arise for two reasons: first – nobody has ever actually seen Bartolo rambling.

Like the fabled unicorn of myth, there are only rumours, fleeting impressions and – of course his own account – of the ministerial wanderings. The other factor that raises doubts as to the veracity of these accounts is the way that the countryside is described.

The Labour government is giving the go-ahead for more virgin land to be built up

For Bartolo glides through idyllic scenery where the colours of nature blaze with beauty and where different birds sing harmoniously in the heavens. The minister sees different shades of green, yellow and purples in the valley. The sun shines in the blue sky and the calm sea shimmers with the tang of salt. The only thing that mars this idyll is the sight of a hedgehog which has been run over.

Well, I don’t know – maybe I haven’t chanced upon Varist’s valley or maybe I’m a glass half-empty sort of person, but I don’t get to see the same things when I go for a walk. Let’s not go into what I see when I walk through the urban landscape. That’s always a construction site, apartment blocks in a variety of clashing styles drowning out the sunlight, cracked pavements, litter and dog turds.

But let’s stick to those supposedly verdant oases where Varist apparently observes the myriad marvels of nature. There’s one question which immediately springs to mind – where are they? Are they really as untouched and as accessible as Bartolo makes out? Will they remain so? Because when I go for a walk in the countryside – in the little that is left untouched – it is completely different.

First – the birdsong. Not so much authentic birdsong as the sound of hundreds of electronic bird callers. These are illegal, but the specialised police unit charged with ferreting them out has been practically dismembered. So, I didn’t get the Bartolo experience there. I have often been hiking and heard incessant shots though. Maybe my timing was off.

Then – those shades of green. Yes they exist on a micro-level – but if you lift your head from the mossy lichens underfoot, you will invariably be met with white walls – the encroachment of buildings everywhere: ‘agricultural’ holdings, hotels and just general urban sprawl.

Parliamentary Secretary Michael Falzon has stated that he intends to “tweak” development boundaries once again, adding lands which were left out in the controversial 2006 rationalisation exercise. Basically this means that the Labour government is giving the go-ahead for more virgin land to be built up.

This, in a country where 30 per cent of the country’s territory is built up – as opposed to the average five per cent of other EU countries. Incidentally – when the Nationalist administration carried out the rationalisation exercise – I saw several Labour ministers and exponents marching purposefully in protest. Where are they now?

There’s always the sea – those perfumed waves so eloquently described by Bartolo. Maybe we should take a good, long, last look at it before the land reclamation projects get started. Then it will be murky white waves and further reduction of access to the foreshore.

I realise I’ve painted a pretty grim picture of it, but I believe it’s a realistic one and not overtly gloom-laden. For far too long, successive governments have spoken of finding a balance between unfettered speculation and conservation. Today, the Labour administration has dropped any pretence in this regard. If things go on in this manner, any traces of the unbuilt environment will disappear too.

At that point we will reread Bartolo’s musings with a wry smile.

cl.bon@nextgen.net.mt

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