A few days ago I wrote about how the traffic in Malta was a major contributor to stress and a source of frustration for many. It was a social media comment about how roadworks should be better planned and how we need to find a more sustainable way of travel for the islands.

As far as I was concerned, I was stating the glaringly obvious; after all, I had never heard of people willingly sitting in their car for over two hours for a journey which should take no more than 20 minutes. I was wrong.

Within a few minutes of the comment being unleashed upon my suspecting public, I was receiving messages from people I didn’t even know telling me how the traffic was equally bad under previous government administrations, why the traffic was the way it was under this government and remarkably (possibly because they live in an entirely parallel universe), one person even told me that there was no “traffic issue” in this country.

The mind boggles. I sat there in dumb silence completely confused. Nowhere had I mentioned the government, politics or anything of that ilk. To be honest, it hadn’t even crossed my mind. I was merely pointing out a very real problem that many are afflicted by every morning.

A problem is a problem no matter who is in government

A problem is a problem no matter who is in government. Good doesn’t become bad because the person you didn’t vote for does it and bad certainly doesn’t become good because you backed that horse last election. If there is a traffic problem then it is something which is bad for everyone.

There is a very real culture of omertà on this island, one that only benefits our politicians and no one else. It’s this same culture that halts progress because no one seems to want to hold anyone else accountable lest they are seen to be disloyal. In what can only be described as the height of puerility, everyone seems to be very comfortable pointing at everyone else when blame is being meted out or even worse, acting like everything is fine even when it isn’t to please some unseen god. It’s beyond ridiculous that a 50-year-old should message and swear at me because she feels I’ve offended her for not shutting up about irrefutable national issues.

If there is something which is not right and if it affects everyone than why on earth would you shut up about it or pretend it doesn’t exist? Do we not all have eyes to see? Ears to hear?

It’s this kind of brushing over the gaping cracks which weakens our very foundations as a country and prevents us from moving forward. We don’t owe anyone anything, particularly our elected representatives, and especially if it means ignoring (or lying about) the truth.