It is the butt of many jokes but in reality the vigorous embellishment works, which religiously take place whenever Malta is hosting a major international event, is anything but funny.
This cosmetic exercise is insulting to the 420,000 inhabitants of the island who have to tolerate the institutionalised disrespect and have no choice but to accept substandard roads and a shabby environment in several areas.
Just days before last weekend’s 5+5 Mediterranean summit, government workers donned their full gear and, with buckets and paintbrushes, they were dispatched to strategic areas. They were repainting long-faded road lines, erecting new signs and bollards, sweeping the streets, sprucing up roundabouts and patching up potholes.
What was even more insulting was that the works were clearly focused on routes used by the visiting foreign dignitaries and the press accredited to the event.
Why else would polluted grey walls at Aldo Moro Street in Marsa be given a desperately-needed coat of paint?
Why were some of the main junctions, leading from the airport to the dignitaries’ hotels and, especially, on the route to Rabat, given a fresh layer of tarmac?
It was amusing to see the road to Verdala Palace, which hosted the summit, asphalted until the entrance, stopping metres beyond the palace where the VIPs did not venture.
The entire area around Auberge de Castille in Valletta, which hosted the bilateral meetings, was also spruced up.
The authorities may well argue that this was a regular exercise meant to benefit the Maltese people but, in reality, only the most gullible would believe that. Ever since the last Arab leader and foreign journalist left the island on Saturday, workers have once again been conspicuous by their absence.
We have seen this all too often – whenever Queen Elizabeth II has visited the island, during the three Papal visits, when the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting was held here, on the eve of a general election... One cannot blame those who argue that they would love to see a summit hosted in Malta every year.
Meanwhile, residents of populated areas will have to wait and pray their locality is included in the next summit’s route.
Why have sections of Testaferrata Street and Kappara hill, to name just two areas, been allowed to deteriorate to such an extent that they have now turned into a motoring roller coaster?
Why do we have to let roadside shrubs grow to a ridiculous extent before action is taken? Why are pedestrian crossing markings allowed to fade, causing a potential threat to both commuters and motorists? Why should everyday road users be treated as second class citizens?
The authorities should also be held to account over whether such cosmetic exercises are a waste of money and resources.
Some road-markings painted over the past few days have already started fading – once again, it seems inappropriate paint has been used (not to mention the evident clear amateurism at road painting). We have seen it happen before. And it will happen again.
It is not uncommon for authorities to embellish surroundings before hosting a major event. Barcelona did it before the 1992 Olympics. South Africa did it before the 2010 World Cup.
But, unlike Malta, most of them maintain the momentum because, once the pomp and ceremony is over, they realise that the locals and tourists do expect similar respect.