Contraventions are happening so fast and in so many places across the country that many are beginning to wonder whether the authorities set up to ensure the observance of rules and regulations have lost their bite. If not, they have certainly not been acting in any way that would suggest a decent degree of efficiency.
Summer may not exactly help them shake off indifference but if they are failing in their job, and a number of them are, it is then the central government’s duty to step in and give them an adrenaline shot. The problem is that it looks like the fish rots from its head. In other words, the central government too appears to have been infected by indifference.
The government may well protest that this is merely an assumption as, it argues, there has rarely been an administration that is so industrious as the current one. That is only partially true for, while it is keeping itself busy introducing new laws and helping to keep up the rhythm of economic growth, it is ignoring matters that affect the daily lives of the people.
It does not seem to be committed or determined enough to help check the glaring rampant indiscipline and the non-observance of regulations, matters that are leading to the anything goes mentality at practically every level of society.
Take restaurateurs who appear to have a free hand as to how much they want to extend their outdoor space, blocking pavements and placing tables even next to cars. Despite the fact that the contraventions are there for all to see, no action is taken to control abuse.
It is downright disgusting, too, that a decomposing skull of cow is left in its place in Buskett for days on end after a woman duly reported the matter to the authorities. Equally frustrating is that it appears that the area where the skull was dumped is often littered with the remains of other animals.
Unacceptable, too, was the state in which fireworks enthusiasts left an Msida garden, which they had used to let off the fireworks for the feast of St Joseph. Four weeks after the feast, the place was still littered with fireworks debris.
Such incidents are as annoying as abuse by building contractors, beach concessionaires, boat-hire salesmen on the Sliema front and outdoor restaurant and café operators.
Indiscipline on the roads is rising fast, with many drivers doing as they please, and the dumping of rubbish has definitely not abated.
With the central government and the local councils simply unable to pool their efforts and resources to keep the country clean and stop further degeneration, pockets of land in many places have turned into eyesores, giving the country an ugly image.
The authorities charged with overseeing the rules and regulations ought to wake up from their lethargy and start flexing their muscles so that this country may start to struggle out of its anything goes mentality, which is lowering standards and creating a free-for-all environment.
If today’s indifferent mindset takes a stronger hold and standards continue to drop at the fast rate they are doing now, Malta will lose all the charm it once had. Much has been lost already but maybe it is not too late to preserve the bit that has remained.