The current exodus from the south is not because people cannot find a job next door, but because we are tired of living in an increasingly built-up, traffic-congested zone.Malta is tiny. But we often forget that. In our minds, we think of it as this huge expanse of land, the centre point of the world. When abroad, we do not even blink at the idea of a three-hour car trip; but at home, if you live in Mellieħa, you barely know where Birżebbuġa is, and if you live in Birżebbuġa, then Mellieħa is the back of beyond. I’m from Paola, and having to drive beyond Mġarr makes my heart sink.
If you think about it, this is ridiculous given that we live on a 316-square-kilometre island. But we follow the rules of the world; and like every other nation we have ingrained in us the north-south divide.
Last week, ‘the south’ was in the news due to the announcement of the building of a university in an Outside Development Zone area in the south. It is not in my remit here to talk about this, but I will speak about the way the people of the south have been depicted in this whole debacle.
It started with a tweet by Parliamentary Secretary Chris Fearne: “In-nies tas-south eċitati ħafna bl-aħbar ta’ investiment qawwi fin-naħa tagħna.” (The people of the south are very excited by the news of strong investment in our area).
I am not sure where Mr Fearne was at the time he tweeted, but I poked my head out of the balcony to see if I could spot street parties and champagne corking and people giggling and crossing their legs so as not to pee with glee.
Unsurprisingly the tweet elicited a sarcastic reply: “Yes! In fact, condoms are running out of stock over here!”
Sadly, political history over the years has painted this image of the people of the south as a special kind of species, waiting eagerly crowded behind a line, like Malta’s very own equator, for scraps of food.
Let’s get this straight: the people in the south do not stay at home, refusing work because it is not within walking distance of their house. People in the south, like people in the north, look for jobs related to what they want or can do.
If you work in the hotel industry, for example, you are not going to laze in your armchair because there are no hotels in the south; you get your car and you drive to work in a hotel in the north.
Politics should be there to kill the north-south divide, not to highlight it
And because we are not idiots, we are well aware, thank you very much, that just because a new infrastructure is being built in the south, it does not mean that only people from Vittoriosa, Paola and Żejtun will be employed. Recruitment is not usually based on the ID card. “You’re from Balzan? Sorry, you can’t apply. Try get a job at Smart Supermarket in Balzan.”
Instead, recruitment takes place (or should take place) according to qualifications and/or abilities. In larger countries, the location of a huge infrastructure boosts the particular locality but Malta is so tiny that this does not equate, and the boost is felt everywhere.
Perhaps it’s time to correct a misunderstanding. When we – people of the south – talk of being forgotten by politicians, what we mean is not “build us a hotel”, or “give us a ghost Smart City” or “we’d love a power station” or “sure, go ahead, build up the public pristine land”.
What we mean is, please leave our area decent enough to live in. The current exodus from the south is not because people cannot find a job next door, but because we are tired of living in an increasingly built-up, traffic-congested zone.
If we want to stretch our legs, the only space it seems we can do that is in the middle of zebra crossings of very busy roads. For example, I am not sure how beneficial my walking on the Santa Lucia trek is; as I trudge and huff, I’m inhaling toxic pollution fresh from the adjacent main artery.
Also, I feel politics should be there to kill the north-south divide, not to highlight it. I have lived in different areas in the south all my life but I don’t go around with a banner saying: “I am a southerner”. Where I live is a state of fact: it is not an issue.
Are we any different from the people from the ‘north’? No. Just like there are ħamalli in Paola, there are ħamalli in Sliema; and just like there are snobs in Sliema there are snobs in Paola. It does not matter where you were born or where you live. What matters is that you are true to yourself.
Which reminds me of a book my daughter once had on how to spot a true princess. “It’s not the pretty dress or the royal family, but it is her manners. It’s manners that maketh a true princess,” it concluded. And it’s certainly bad manners to think the people of the south are so thick that they get excited at the snap of a finger.
P.S. A huge well done to Paola’s Hibernians, this year’s football champions of (the north and south of) Malta.
krischetcuti@gmail.com
Twitter: @KrisChetcuti