More people were killed worldwide by natural disasters this year than have been killed in terrorist attacks over the past 40 years, according to one news agency report.
What may long endure in the memory of most, however, was the dramatic story of the Chilean miners trapped underground for 69 days.
Their story captivated millions of people around the world as they followed their rescue from the bowels of the earth. But thousands of other people did not have a chance to make it. They either drowned in floods or were crushed under piles of rubble in earthquakes.
Thousands were killed, and 1.5 million people made homeless, in an earthquake in Haiti alone in January. There were other earthquakes − in Turkey, Chile, Indonesia and China. In all, some 260,000 people are estimated to have been killed in natural disasters during the year. Ash spewed out by a volcano in Iceland in April brought civil aviation in most of Europe to a halt, and there was also the man-made disaster in the Gulf of Mexico where an oil well explosion pumped 172 million gallons of oil into the sea.
The memory of these and of other natural or man-made disasters will no doubt be cancelled by others over time, but the suffering in the hearts of those who are related to those killed will endure. In the midst of so much adversity, it would not be out of place for little Malta to count its blessings. For its size, it has many. The year was packed with events but two notable ones were the closure of Malta Drydocks, which marked the end of an era, and the Pope’s visit. A most horrific incident was the fireworks factory explosion in Gozo.
Like other countries, the island has its own set of problems and challenges, but life in general is not as bad as in so many other places, even though our standard of living may not be as high as that enjoyed by other members of the European Union.
But the aspiration to reach their standard is there, with signs that the gap may be narrowing a bit, though this does not necessarily mean that the wealth generated is being distributed evenly.
On the contrary, the gap between the rich and the rest of the population appears to be widening. More than 14 per cent of the population are at the risk of poverty.
This is worrying. Solidarity with those in need is praiseworthy, but the country would have to go into the heart of the matter and see how those who are lagging behind could be helped to improve their situation. Taking an overall view, economic performance has been getting better over the past months. The country has managed to slip out of the recession, but this does not mean that the worst is over. It is not. In fact, a slowdown in growth is forecast for 2011, a matter that could delay the country from reaching its economic targets, particularly that of reducing the deficit in the government’s finances. There is no shortage of problems and political controversies. One of the most immediate challenges is to bring Air Malta back to financial health.
As always, excessive politicisation of life in Malta is most annoying. Would it be too much to ask politicians and their parties to tone down their political talk a bit in 2011?
Otherwise, there is much to be thankful for.