Undoubtedly the talk of the town – and the country, at that – these last few days was the design (can I use such a word to describe such ugliness?) of the new Monti stalls and the decision to have this open air market cheek by jowl to Piano aesthetically exquisite project.
The second place though quite at a distance from the faux pas aptly described by Herman Grech as the Montification of Piano, is occupied by two related story.
On Friday we were informed by Times of Malta that a study done by the University of Malta concluded that traffic congestion in Malta is not a perception but a real problem. We were told that we spend 52 hours struck in the traffic each year. The economic cost is great though perhaps lesser than the damage done as a result of the flaring tempers of drivers. As if to compensate, on Saturday government announced a 4 euro cent reduction to the cost of fuels. The Opposition said that it was too little too late. The minister responsible for such things told us that hand on heart and hope to die that this decision had nothing to do with the campaign of the Partit Nazzjonalista and some sectors of civil society for a decrease in the price of fuels!
But I think the a news item which the media should have given it more importance was the story which graced the front page of Times of Malta of Friday January 30 together with the one on traffic congestions. The Times reported a speech by Parliamentary Secretary Jose Herrera clearly stating that Maltese society has a “moral obligation” to help migrants integrate and failing to do so would be “nothing less than bigotry.”
Dr Herrera’s sane comments contrasted with the usual xenophobic and panic stricken comments underneath the report of his speech. The Parliamentary Secretary was right to state that “racism is the fruit of ignorance.”
Dr Herrera made an intelligent appeal to “bridge the gap” between Maltese society and the migrant population.
“I am sure that if we teach migrants about Maltese culture – what it means to be Maltese, who our forefathers were, what a festa is, how our political system works and so on – we will bridge the gap that is stopping many migrants from integrating,” he said.
He should have added for good measure that we can also learn from these migrants, their cultures and their customs. The populist idea that these migrants are dirty and ignorant persons is totally off mark.
A few weeks back Dr Deborah Schembri MP also made a very good speech on the subject during one of her interventions in Parliament. Unfortunately even that speech was not given the prominence it deserves.
The sane positions by Drs Herrera and Schembri contrast with media reports of the inane – to say the least – comments about no-go zones made by Aaron Farrugia, the chairman of Malta Freeport and the chairman of the Labour Party’s think tank IDEAT. According to press reports he told the party general conference that parts of Malta like Marsa and Safi are “no-go zones” for Maltese people because of all the African immigrants there. Reading these reports I was reminded of the totally stupid reportage by a correspondent of Fox News who said something similar about Birmingham and parts of Paris.
Please give us more of Herrera and Schembri and less of Farrugia!