Times change and we must change with them. So goes the old Latin saying which is often unheeded or loosely applied locally. Just look at the increasing traffic on our roads, a problem nobody seems capable or willing to tackle.

Successive governments, in spite of their promises before election time, have proved to be living in the past. They are unable or unwilling to change with the times, which is what wise and intelligent governance is all about.

We must acknowledge that it is mainly through the hard work, determination and initiative of those who came before us that we, supposedly modern and advanced states, are still benefitting in our day to day lives, which as far as our own efforts are concerned, remain static and unchanged.

We must accept and adjust to changing at a speedier rate. For example, a solution to traffic congestion could be an underground railway system.

The movement for local change is gradually gathering speed and momentum as evidenced by the numerous NGOs working and struggling hard to realise their objective.

In Malta, which is predominantly Catholic, many Catholics pray and hope for change at the Curia so that the local Church may keep in step with the times following the example of Pope Francis. The new Pope is in the process of casting aside many ancient customs related to attire, ceremony and other shackles of the past.