A report on Malta's ranking in the competitive league table confirms what is already known to all, that if the island wants to make a significant improvement in living standards, it has to pull its socks up. In the list of the top 50 countries, Malta ranks 39th, and among EU members, 19th. More significantly perhaps is the ranking in the list of 10 countries that joined the European Union in 2004 - sixth place, after Estonia, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Latvia, and the Slovak Republic.

Competitive Malta, a foundation set up in 2003 to push competitiveness to the forefront of public debate, lists four challenges "to safeguard and enhance" the economy. The country was moving ahead in at least two of these, reduction of public deficit and control of national debt, and moving towards high-value adding activities. The pace of improvement is slower when it comes to the other two, the promotion of a business friendly environment by reducing bureaucracy and compliance costs and the exploitation of untapped avenues for economic growth.

There is much to say about all these points, matters that are regularly raised in sectoral and public debates and in Parliament. There is invariably national agreement as to the targets the country ought to aim at. The differences primarily lie in the manner in which the programmes to meet such targets are tackled. Labour, for instance, repeatedly accuses the government it has no proper plans to reach common targets. Would Labour, if elected, manage to speed up the work? Only time will tell, that is, if the electorate chooses Labour in preference to the Nationalists.

The painful truth is, though, that whether the country is under a Nationalist or a Labour Administration, it is difficult to bring about change. Resistance to change may not be something peculiar to Malta, but it does sometimes seem that the country is simply unable to make a leap forward in matters that have been discussed for years. As it was well pointed out at the launching of the report by a former British Conservative MP who has been living in Malta for three years, competitiveness was about getting down to basics.

Some sore points were the dirt around the island, bad roads and signage, lack of enforcement of health and safety regulations and the general shabby state of the environment. These are all matters that have been raised and discussed for years on end, yet, the effort made so far to get to grips with the situation on a national scale has not made a great difference, except perhaps in areas where new roads have been built and where roundabouts have been greatly rehabilitated.

Clearly, though, this is far from enough, as visits to so many places, including, of course, Valletta, amply show. Valletta needs urgent attention and care as it is deteriorating by the day. Many other areas all over the island are in a shabby state. Some places, particularly where building equipment is left straddling streets or blocking passageways, are simply chaotic. If a boundary wall is knocked down, it takes ages to be rebuilt and there is a distinct lack of maintenance in a number of public places. The list of such shortcomings is endless, yet, there does not seem to be a strong, administrative willingness to get to grips with such basic matters.

Both the government and local councils ought to show greater vigour in tackling matters that are giving Malta a bad name and making it less competitive. In short, the country needs to get down to basics before it is too late.