It seems that these days you can’t switch on your laptop without a breaking news report telling you that yet another corruption scandal has been unearthed. One minute we were hearing about the commissions for oil scandal within the higher echelons at Enemalta, then we found out that tampering of the smart meters was rife, and now we learn that electricity theft was widespread even before the smart meters were a twinkle in Austin Gatt’s eye.
But that’s not all. The files relating to the 650 electricity thieves were stashed away in some store room in the depths of the Enemalta offices and no action was taken in respect of the hundreds of people getting their power for free. We don’t know if this was due to careless administration or more suspect reasons.
Enemalta wasn’t the only rot-ridden parastatal entity. Something odd has apparently been taking place in the Fisheries Department where it is alleged that there has been misappropriation of public funds.
Over at Malta Air Traffic Services Ltd, two former top officials allegedly used the government company’s credit cards to buy clothes, go on a cruise, pay a €2,000 bill at a restaurant in St Paul’s Bay, to shop at Lidl and to buy jewellery and mobile phones for their families.
It was reported that the two officials involved also engaged in a double dipping practice where they would buy items on the credit card only to use the receipts to claim the money back in cash.
The slew of bribery charges at the ADT and the VAT Department are fading in the collective memory, but they were pretty big messes.
The corruption has taken a European dimension, as the money-fiddling has been extended to the solar panels scheme. And that’s not forgetting the other issue of hundreds of Mepa files which were mysteriously lost or deleted.
One of the most significant factors contributing to rampant corruption is the way that the Maltese are nearly completely detached from the State
It’s as if we’re swimming in a sea of corruption where everybody is dipping his fingers in the State’s till. Corruption may have always been endemic but it seems to be particularly visible in recent days as the reports come in thick and fast.
Several commentators have tried to identify the reasons for this bloom of corruption. Some have placed some of the blame on the Maltese Church, which they claim is more concerned with the sins of the flesh than on promoting civic values. This is a rather unfair assessment. It’s not as if the Maltese are particularly virtuous in this regard because they are heeding Church teachings. The dearth of sexual scandals coming to light is more probably due to an unspoken truce between the different sides of the political divide so that nobody breaks ranks.
I would say that one of the most significant factors contributing to rampant corruption is the way the Maltese are nearly completely detached from the State. That is – they feel totally removed and distinct from the public institutions and administration. The State is perceived as the enemy – to be outsmarted and outwitted. Since there are no ties of loyalty binding the citizen to the State, stealing from it is not considered to be morally reprehensible. Rather, outwitting the State in any way – from low-level tax evasion to more lucrative misappropriation, is perceived to be a shrewd and ‘admirable’ mode of action.
This mode of thinking is further reinforced by the widespread feeling of many people that they are hard done by the State – that they are the pawns (iż-żgħar), helpless in the face of power games by the authorities and state machinery. This – in turn – provides moral justification for ignoring laws and trying to enrich one’s self at the expense of the State.
Misappropriating public funds, electricity theft and squatting on public land are not thought to be immoral acts but simply a way of levelling the balance of power between the individual and the State. With this mindset, it’s no surprise that theft from the commons has become so widespread that it’s practically the norm.
cl.bon@nextgen.net.mt