The Public Domain Bill presented by the Nationalist Opposition and endorsed by Parliament strengthens democracy and is a major step in the right direction.
For one thing, it involves a radically different concept of man than that which economists normally feed us – Homo Economicus who calculates his actions in terms of personal costs and benefits, and selfishly seeks every opportunity to maximise the satisfaction of his wants.
The Public Domain Act, in legislating for the entire population of Malta, present and future, implicitly subscribes to the view that human happiness is not merely a matter of fulfilment of personal wants. It is stating that what truly enhances the well-being of individuals is in harmony with wisdom and philosophical tradition, which counsel against individual avarice and greed and against personal, materialist acquisition.
This is an acknowledgment of the natural and cultural wealth of a nation and a commitment to guarantee the continuation of this wealth for future generations.
The Public Domain Act seeks to list areas of public domain such that they would not only be accessible all at all times (including future generations) but would be absolutely prohibited from being used privately for commercial reasons, given or sold.
This law acknowledges the value of ethics in sustaining and supporting human happiness. It says that, far more important than counting GDP (which is of course important to count) as a measure of a nation’s well-being and happiness, are human connections, particularly relationships between people and between people and the rest of nature.
This is why the law in declaring areas of public property as public domain is subscribing to three important principles. First, economic life is governed by natural law. This is the law inherent to the nature of things. In establishing that certain public areas are public domain, it is acknowledged that the whole island belongs to the public, so that what is in fact left after legitimate private interests have been sanctioned, is naturally to be enjoyed freely by the public.
What the present law is doing is merely formulating and safeguarding what is already implicitly known as the public’s right by natural law.
This law stops the government from stepping into the shoes of the colonial ruler to do as it deems fit with public property
Secondly, a proposed law is judged in terms of whether it is just or unjust. This simple criterion dictates that a policy or law is just if it ensures an adequate portion of freedom, health and happiness for everyone. This is, of course, in line with every man’s fundamental right for his dignity to be respected.
As the Public Domain Law effectively guarantees the fundamental right of the public to enjoy that which is freely provided and that which is his heritage as a citizen of this nation state, it is clearly in line with the second criterion which considers every citizen’s (and also every future citizen’s) health and happiness without exception.
A third fact relating to economic life is that everyone has the same essential need for access to nature’s material and for access to land. Any proposed law that targets land is always one of the most daring transformations to aim for. This is because those who are in power are usually those who control the land. In Malta a staggering 55% of all land is owned and controlled by the government. To yield up absolute power over land (or at any rate some portions of it) is a daring step in favour of the common good, and it is rare for anyone to do this willingly.
This law stops even the government from stepping into the shoes of the colonial ruler to do as it deems fit with public property, often to the detriment of the common good. It is effectively binding the government to look after and protect all that is public domain.
Unfortunately the law cannot be applied retroactively but it will bring about a radical change in public perception of the shameless appropriation of public land. The rocks in certain seaside towns, beaches in coastal areas, valleys, scenic ridges, even our forts and bastions have not been spared the humiliation of being made subject to commercialisation and cheap profit-making.
Crimes of this sort against the public good, which, both in the near and distant past have been silently committed and were also consistently sanctioned, will become inconceivable.
The new law empowers the real owners, the people of Malta, to safeguard their ultimate wealth, holding the government ultimately responsible that this trust is not breached.
Finally the Public Domain Act will have an educational effect on society. In contrast to the materialist philosophy popularly embraced, this law will start to reshape what people really value.
It will do this by providing a system which protects a community, its ecology and its cultural heritage and which guarantees equal rights to all. It ensures access to public spaces and urban areas, which it is everyone’s right to enjoy; and it highlights the collective or community values, rather than individualist and self-seeking motives.
The public itself, in demanding that areas be listed as public domain, will implicitly be serving nature and the community as well as future communities of citizens in a daring bid to seek out some sort of balance between private ownership and interests, and collective ownership and rights.
The Public Domain Act presented by the Nationalist Opposition is therefore a great step towards the Maltese nation’s well-being and happiness.
Charlot Cassar is a Marsascala local councillor and a Nationalist Party election candidate.