I believe that unless Malta makes a dramatic change in course, we could well run the risk of our actions leading us to a situation with potentially catastrophic consequences. We are becoming more and more obsessed with material excesses. As a result, most of us hardly bat an eyelid when faced with cases of corruption, poor governance, tax evasion, unethical behaviour etc.

Xejn m’hu xejn (anything goes) has become the mantra that is shaping our lives. We continually seek material gain at any cost and, we are slowly but surely abandoning our sense of social responsibility and values. Everything is justified as being pro-business. From the days of the grand old man of Maltese politics declaring “Malta first and foremost” we have progressed to “Money first and foremost”.

Prime ministers past and present must assume primary political responsibility for this situation but this egoistic attitude is not limited to the political class.

We probably reached the “pits” last year when a government minister and the Prime Minister’s chief of staff were discovered to hold secretly opened companies in Panama, globally renowned as a tax haven where shady wealth is hidden. Rather than being immediately relieved of their duties, they both retained their posts with the full backing of the Prime Minister.

I am completely baffled how faced with the evidence of the companies being set up and leaked email exchanges showing instructions to open bank accounts, the Prime Minister continues to defend the indefensible.

Muscat promised good governance prior to his resounding electoral victory but he has let down thousands of those who placed their trust in him. I myself have been trying to find a justifiable reason for owning a company in Panama for the past 12 months but sadly I am unable to. The Prime Minister however insists that his two buddies have done nothing illegal so he must be privy to information that I don’t have.

I am the first to acknowledge that the economy has done well over the past few years but, in the words of the Lord, “man shall not live by bread alone”. There are more important things in life than amassing mega riches.

Although the poor are getting poorer, it would seem that many of us are probably better off materially but this improvement in living standards has come at a great cost that many of us don’t seem to realise.

I see so much insatiable greed, unbridled excesses and the stench of corruption all around me. Is this the legacy we wish to leave to future generations?

Our environment is under threat from over-construction and now we are even going to have high-rise towers like the proverbial cherry on the cake. New Malta has arrived!

I have just read that prime seafront public land (owned by me and every other citizen of Malta) in St Georges Bay has been transferred/sold to a property developer for not much less than a half of its market value. Our sea is getting more polluted every year primarily due to waste from fish farming by operators who seem to be above the law and our roads just cannot cope with the volume of cars. We can’t keep measuring progress only in

and cents. The quality of our lives should also be a key indicator.

The Prime Minister understandably defends his chosen strategic direction and says that economic improvement is the force driving incomes upwards and it is also true that unemployment is virtually non-existent. He seems however not to be taking enough notice of tax evasion that, I am told, is estimated to reach the region of €1 billion per annum. If we were to cut this figure by 50 per cent and increase tax revenues by €500 million annually, then we could probably afford to limit this construction frenzy and we could hopefully all enjoy better, more relaxed, cleaner and infinitely quieter lives.

I feel I also have to highlight the hypocrisy of both political parties who on the one hand proclaim to be against tax evasion by Maltese citizens and oblige them to pay up to 35 per cent income tax on their world income while simultaneously they both support a tax ‘system’ (which they have given the nice sounding name of ‘financial services’) that gives foreign citizens and corporations the opportunity to evade the payment of €5 billion of tax annually in their own countries.

It seems to be of no concern to our political class that citizens of other countries are being deprived of these massive tax revenues that could help their countries improve a whole array of social services. If I had to pinpoint my biggest concern, however, it must be our apparent inability for one reason or another to curtail corruption over the past 40 years.

Some administrations tried to do something about it but the proof of the pudding is in the eating. This disease which is a real threat to democratic life, seems to have survived the times very well indeed. Although governments generally promise to curb it, all of them adopt a ping-pong strategy when they find themselves under any pressure. The moment the party in opposition alleges corruption, the government’s stock reaction is to counter attack by quoting a failure during the time the opposition party was in government. And so it goes on.

I have now had more than enough of being led up the garden path. I am no longer prepared to accept verbal declarations from either of the two main parties that they will adopt a zero-tolerance policy on corruption. For me to be convinced they shall have to spell out in precise detail how they plan to combat this scourge in their political manifestos. No more fancy buzz words, please. I call for effective measures and deterrents.

Exactly 12 years ago, I had penned an article ‘Proud to be Maltese’ in response to a question raised by the Prime Minister of the time. If you had to ask me the same question today I think I will be very hard pressed not to reply to it by posing another question. Why should I be proud? I see so much insatiable greed, unbridled excesses and the stench of corruption all around me. Is this the legacy we wish to leave to future generations?

Our country is on a slippery slope. It needs to urgently regain a serene and balanced position on level ground before it slides inexorably to the bottom.

Tony Zammit Cutajar is a retired businessman.

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