Isolated in the Pacific Ocean is a tiny island State called Nauru. It is only one third the size of Gozo and has a population of about 10,000. At various times Nauru was under the rule of Germany, Japan and Australia. In 1900 it was discovered that Nauru was 80 per cent covered in metres of guano; bird droppings. Not a particularly appetising thought, but guano is the richest source of phosphates that can be found, a vital ingredient in fertilisers. Initially foreign companies came to mine the resource, then when Nauru became independent the companies were nationalised.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Nauru boasted the highest per capita income of any sovereign State in the world but by the end of the 1980s the supply of guano began to run out and now what is left is economically unfeasible to exploit. Eighty per cent of the land surface area of the island was mined and is now a semi-barren landscape of limestone pillars up to five metres high. All the inhabitants live on a 300m wide coastal strip, the only bit that had no guano.
From being super rich; because it did not manage its resources adequately and did not plan properly for when they would run out; Nauru now has 90 per cent unemployment. It relies almost completely on handouts from Australia, and its only source of income is hosting detention centres for that same country for sea-going irregular migrants.
You may be thinking: what a sad and sorry tale. Indeed it is. One we would ignore at our peril.
There are parallels between the Nauru of half a century ago and Malta today. We, like them, have a booming economy. We, like them, are devouring our greatest resource to make a quick buck. In their case it was guano, in ours, our natural, urban and historical heritage. Nauru is now almost completely a barren limestone rock, the Maltese Islands will soon be covered in characterless concrete.
In our endeavour to become richer we are making Malta so much poorer in the things that made our country attractive in the first place
The people of Nauru failed to make provision for when the good times would end; we are just making provision to accelerate the end of the good times.
We are already seeing how difficult it is to attract companies wishing to set up shop outside Great Britain after Brexit. The main consideration these companies have when choosing where to relocate is not financial. Being the successful companies that they are, they also look at the quality of life the host country will offer their employees, the most precious resource they have. It seems Malta does not quite fit the bill any more.
In our endeavour to become richer we are making Malta so much poorer in the things that made our country attractive in the first place. Our uniqueness is being fast diluted. We are literally overnight, in historical terms, being transformed into an overcrowded concrete and asphalt jungle. Another Dubai, another Qatar, another soulless mess. Our traffic is in gridlock; I shudder to think what it will be like come the end of September, when the schools re-open. Cosmetic work on our road system is just a stop-gap measure. We will be back to where we started within a handful of years.
Some may argue that progress cannot be stopped. Indeed. But is it progress? Most overcrowded developed countries such as Japan, Korea and Singapore have managed, through strong legislation that is enforced diligently, and through a culture of respecting another citizen’s space, to create a society where cleanliness and harmony go hand in hand. You just have to walk out of your front door to realise that that is not quite the case here.
So, how do we stop being another Nauru?
Well, firstly, let’s put to a stop to the unbridled piecemeal development that is destroying our country and our quality of life. There has to be a master-plan, one that addresses the need for economic progress with the need to leave Malta and Gozo to future generations recognisable as… well, Malta and Gozo. Until it is ready, we need to stop acting like a blind bull in a china shop, destroying what we possess without direction. We need to, once and for all, enshrine in our legislation that ODZ land really does mean ODZ with the possible exception of strategic national (not private) projects where all other possible options have been explored and exhausted.
We need to bite the bullet and invest as soon as possible in a new, efficient mass transport system to get cars off the roads. Our government needs to start a feasibility study on this now. We cannot wait till we and our economy literally grind to a halt.
And finally, being a service based economy, we need to regain that one intangible but so important resource we are losing but can still recover; our reputation. Good governance is not only a political buzz word. It is essential so that people who want to invest in and do business here can feel that they can trust us. Without trust in our institutions they just will not do so. It’s not only the environment that needs to be cleaned up; it’s the way this country is run.
Nauru and Malta: two overcrowded micro States. Let’s work together to make sure that is the only thing we have in common.
Anthony Buttigieg is a candidate for the leadership of the Democratic Party.