I felt like a break from all the talk about alternative sites for Sadeen and Joseph Muscat minions telling me off for not spending every waking hour at Żonqor (which they want to hand over to Jordanian contractors). So I decided to go to watch Sibna ż-Żejt – a satirical play written by Wayne Flask.

The play is set in Malta in the not-too-distant future and which is not that different from the present-day scenario. Building contractors still rule the roost (check out Xandru Chetcuti – like father, like son) and Muscat is still de facto King of Castille, having assigned the Nationalist Opposition, AD, NGOs, the Church and civil society to oblivion.

Veteran actor Mario Micallef does an excellent job of portraying the supremely self-confident Muscat of the future, fobbing off journalists with stock phrases (“Things could have been handled a bit better”). He does feel slightly at a loss when he inadvertently lets slip that oil has been discovered under the Addolorata cemetery. The buil­ding contractors, who have a finger in all the pies, naturally want to pump up the black gold from the depths of the earth. They couldn’t care less about the people buried there – after all they’re long gone, aren’t they?

The contractors have no idea why anyone should object to their project. After all, they are offering wealth and prosperity as opposed to bags of bones of the departed.

The preservation of the little undeveloped area we have left has become a priority

That thing about remembering our loved ones when they’ve passed on to the next life, it’s so passé, isn’t it? Isn’t it only the Church that goes on about these things? And in any case, hasn’t the Church always hindered progress and suffocating? Why should we pay heed to the mutterings of priestly shepherds with no flock? The choice the contractors were offering was quite simple: ‘Bonanza not Bones’.

At this point, watching the play started to feel uncomfortably similar to reality and close to home.

Digging up the Addolorata cemetery may seem a bit way out, but is it really? What is so different about raking over a cemetery to digging up a swimming pool in the Hypogeum or building a block of flats at Ħagar Qim (all of which were mentioned in the play)?

What about allowing an untouch­ed coastal area to be turned into expensive digs for Middle East students while depriving Maltese citizens of an area of scenic beauty and agricultural value?

All the above instances are simi­lar – although only one is an impending reality. They are all the result of the mentality that everything is for sale – given the right price. This has been the prevalent school of thought of both the PN and Labour administrations.

Everything must yield a tangible benefit in monetary terms, otherwise it is of no use. So – for example – a sandy shore is not deemed to be valuable, unless someone who is given a beach concession is hiring umbrellas and deckchairs and making a profit.

A public promenade cannot simply be a place where people stroll freely and children play. No – it is not maximising its full potential revenue until a few dozen kiosks selling junk food can operate from public walkways.

A patch of greenery is a waste of space, unless it is sown over with produce or an adjunct to a reception hall or framing the pool of an ODZ villa and boosting its value.

Land that is not built up is frowned upon, and there’s a collective sigh of relief when we can plonk the umpteenth supermarket on it and sell more frozen food.

This kind of reasoning need not be taken to its extreme, to see that nothing is sacred. If we continue in this vein, we might just as well file that planning application for a penthouse on top of St John’s Co-Cathedral, privatise Ħagar Qim and plonk a Lidl supermarket in St George’s Square in Valletta.

Sounds obscene? Not really – it is only in keeping with the mistaken idea that economic investment has to be the only end and objective of every project in this country. We are forgetting that there are other values and other ideals worth safeguarding. In a country which has a lack of open spaces, a dearth of green areas and a horrendous hotchpotch of construction oblite­rating our sea views, the preservation of the little undeveloped area we have left, has become a priority. It is not a luxury but a necessity – in order to preserve the minimal amount of countryside the public has access to.

We can’t put a price on it and sell it. Investment can be made in developed areas, not on ODZ sites. The Sadeen Group project to take over unbuilt countryside, oust Maltese farmers from it and deny free access to Maltese citizens to the grounds frequented by Middle Eastern students must be seen for what it is – a thoroughly indecent proposal.

cl.bon@nextgen.net.mt