Ijust cannot understand the mentality of the people of this tiny island of ours. According to a 2015 UN report, Malta remains by far the most densely populated European Union member state, with an average of 1,364 persons per square kilometre, compared to an EU average of 116 persons per square kilometre. This figure is more than three times that of The Netherlands, which is the second most densely populated country within the EU, with 405 persons per square kilometre.
Add to the figure the number of foreigners living on the island, the hundreds of thousands of tourists invading our hotels, holiday apartments and boutique hotels (the latest fad) and the numbers surely peak considerably.
What amazes me is that it seems we are hell-bent on increasing this density ratio even more. Well, we must consolidate our top spot, mustn’t we!
Everywhere you look, menacing tower cranes herald the death knell to many a traditional dwelling. Villages and formerly quiet areas are being raped in the name of the maximisation of the sacred footprint.
Recently, some American tourists booked in a ‘boutique apartment’ declared they felt cheated because the village advertised on the website was neither quaint nor sleepy. That is the way we are heading. Tourist gurus take note.
It all boils down to the excessive greed of the usual mega developers and the lesser, budding entrepreneurs who want to emulate them.
Villages and formerly quiet areas are being raped in the name of the maximisation of the sacred footprint
These people do not give a damn about the destruction of nice townhouses or whether the infrastructure can sustainably support a 40-storey monster that will permanently alter the social fabric of the residents. All they care about is adding to their already well-lined pockets and so ride roughshod over the rest of us, with the blessing of the authorities to boot.
Over the years, the various ‘planning’ bodies have been and have become even more of a veritable joke, for how can you justify such developments in areas already plagued with accessibility problems?
Vehicular traffic density alone is clear testimony that this island is already bursting at the seams. Driving has become a real nightmare. No amount of flyovers will solve the problem, because the infrastructure in our towns and villages is what it is and cannot be changed unless you raze everything to the ground and start afresh.
At the pace we’re going, there won’t be anywhere left to go to. It is being said, conveniently, I add, that you cannot stop development, but you can and have a duty to control and channel it in a direction that safeguards the character of the island and does not penalise the overwhelming majority of the population. The present planning institutions feign total cluelessness and powerlessness in front of this destructive tide. The population’s holistic well-being is being trampled upon and sacrificed on the altar of so-called progress.
The demographic aspect of the problem has yet to be openly discussed, and I look forward to reading in this newspaper the anthropologists’ views about the mechanics of population density vis-a-vis conflict and stress. The perception out there is that the present administration has been seduced by the ‘make hay while the sun shines’ cowboys, who are favoured (unfortunately, I say) by the present international situation.
This insane craze also raises several questions.
Where is all this money coming from? Where was it stashed? Was it being declared and duly taxed? If it is coming from a foreign source, do we have the guarantees that it is all clean money? Do the authorities care, after all? Should we indeed sell our precious land to foreign speculators?
I am sure the majority of the population with a speck of intelligence would love to have some straight answers to these perfectly legitimate questions. Fat chance!
Malta is fast becoming an ugly and impossible place to live in. Let us stop and rethink our priorities before it is really too late.
Noel Galea Bason is a coin designer and engraver and a sculptor.