Malta is really the island where time stands still. I sometimes get the im­pression that nothing ever changes and we live a Rip Van Winkle-like existence in that if we had to nod off and wake up 10 or 20 years from now, we would still be discussing the same old topics.

I am willing to bet any amount of money that opinions will be as divided as they are today on the Maltese spelling question and whether we should be writing ‘showroom’ or xowrum, while the younger generations will have neatly bypassed the problem by snapping a picture of the thing and pointing to it on their tablets.

Every time it rains, the authorities will issue warning notices and warn us to stay inside and avoid low-lying areas for fear of us being swept away in the flood waters. This, of course, begs the question, of what we should do if we do not live in Dingli, Rabat or other hilly outposts, or if we do live in such places but have to get to work or to an important appoint­­ment? It would make more sense to do something about the flooding, some major infrastructural works maybe. But that would involve long-term planning and we don’t do long-term.

Other constants of our island life would be the reassuring presence of Eddie Privitera, defender of all things Labour, on the letters pages of our newspapers and online, and others with strongly-felt pro-PN views to maintain the polarity and partisan divide.

And then there’s that ever-recurring and tiresome dilemma of the kind of tourists we should be attracting.

Some 20 years ago, the parliamentary secretary res­ponsible for tourism, Joe Psaila Savona, had said something to the effect that it would be a good idea if we aimed to capture the upmarket tourism sector instead of continuing to rely on mass tour­ism. I’m not sure if he actually mentioned the words “bucket and spade brigade”, but the meaning of his statement was clear: we should aim for a shift away from unsustainable numbers to fewer, higher-spending visitors with a lower impact on our infrastructure and environment.

As is usually the case around here, this innocuous and common sense statement caused a right old brouhaha, with people saying this was an elitist statement, that such a policy would ruin those working in three-star hotels and guest houses, and that we couldn’t exactly turn away those tourists when their buckets and spades showed up in the X-ray machine at the airport.

Malta’s positives are eclipsed by the overall shabbiness of the place, the ugly buildings, the absolute crassness of the kiosks mushrooming everywhere and the dirt

That discussion went on for some time and then we inevitably moved on to something evidently more important such as the Eurovision Song contest. Every so often, the topic flares up and we have the discussion again. The most recent intervention on the matter was Corinthia chairman Alfred Pisani, who said the country should aim for excellence and quality tourists.

Well good luck with that, and more power to the elbow of whoever is chasing the elusive dream of turning this into a destination of quality, but it’s a bit too late for that now, isn’t it? The branding issue has taken care of itself and the country is stuck with the ‘cheap and (mostly) cheerful’ tag – a sort of Torremolinos Mark 2 where the natives speak English.

I am fiercely attached to my country and recognise its beauty and the benefits of living here – but most of them relate to a laid-back quality of life for people who live here long-term.

The weather and the proximity to family and friends and services contribute to this. However, these positives are eclipsed by the overall shabbiness of the place, the ugly buildings, the absolute crassness of the kiosks mushrooming everywhere and the dirt.

There’s no getting away from it. Even when viewing the country through rose-tinted glasses and appreciating the few remaining pockets of natural beauty, the walled cities of Valletta and Mdina and the sea, the reality is that the rest is a mess.

Don’t take my word of it. The following are the views of an expat living in Malta who wrote a post citing the pros and cons of living here.

She praised aspects of it but her critical observations are depressingly familiar. She wrote: “Over­development has ruined the larger towns of Sliema and St Julian’s and even much of the rest of the coastline and smaller villages. Much of the waterfront is just a crowded line of high-rise hotel and apartment buildings. And many of the original dwellings in these areas are abandoned and decaying.

“Watch where you walk because tourists and residents alike throw bottles, plastic bags and food refuse right into the streets.

“The dog-poop-on-the-pavement problem is getting a little better since I moved here, but you still have heaps you must look out for.

“The lack of environmental concern for a naturally beautiful island and ecosystem is ap­pal­ling. They never stop building in Malta. The horizon is filled with cranes and unsafe, dusty and noisy worksites.”

How’s that for a dismal but sadly accurate snapshot of the country?

Our politicians’ lack of vision and endemic lack of enforcement has led to this state of affairs. The upshot of this laissez-faire attitude is that the whole ‘quantity versus quality’ issue has been settled for us. We’ve painted ourselves into the whatever-we-can-get corner.

cl.bon@nextgen.net.mt

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