Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1431464
10 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 21 NOVEMBER 2021 OPINION Raphael Vassallo Ask a serious question, get a silly answer… IF you wanted any further proof of just how badly Malta's polit- ical system has so far failed the country… you need look no fur- ther than a 'government event' that was held in Zabbar last Thursday. Ostensibly, it was a press con- ference to announce the latest 'greening project' (or 'greenwash- ing', more like it) for that particu- lar locality. And this, presuma- bly, is why it was addressed by a number of speakers who, between them, happen to represent the three most crucial areas of any government's interactions with its citizens. First up, there was Clyde Caru- ana… and yes, I know it looks like I've been 'picking on him', of late; but he is the Finance Minister, you know; and as such, he is still the 'go-to' man for all questions regarding the economic direction and development of the entire country… Then there was Environment Minister Aaron Farrugia: who – notwithstanding the loss of large chunks of the environmental portfolio, back in January 2020 –remains responsible (on paper, at least) for the preservation, and sustainability, of all Malta's urban and rural environment… Lastly, there was Alex Muscat: parliamentary secretary for (inter alia) 'communities'… which also implies that he is ultimately con- cerned – or should be, at any rate – with any social repercussions that may arise from his own gov- ernment's actions and decisions. All things told, then, we are talk- ing about three government rep- resentatives whose responsibili- ties cover pretty much all aspects that are of most direct, immediate, concern to Maltese citizens: the economy, the environment, and social welfare. And there they were all were, slap-bang in the middle of one of the largest social hubs in the south of the island: you know, the one region which the present government has vowed to focus its energies upon, after decades of neglect… and which happens to be (traditionally, anyway) a major Labour Party stronghold to boot. I mean: what on earth could pos- sibly go wrong? Well… for starters, someone could very easily seize that op- portunity to ask some searching, probing questions, of the kind that governments in general – and this one in particular – don't normally like being asked (still less, being forced to answer). And in so doing, that 'somebody' might also succeed in sweeping the entire carpet right from under the present government's feet: if nothing else, by graphically expos- ing its newfound 'environmental conscience' for the shambolic travesty it really is… Ah, but let me guess: the above possibility never even remote- ly crossed any of those Cabinet members' minds, did it? No, not even after surveys have repeat- edly indicated the emergence of a groundswell of popular discon- tent – precisely in the south of Malta, and concerning precisely the environmental (and econom- ic, and social) degradation of communities in that area… and not even when they themselves are, collectively, responsible for so much of this disillusionment to begin with… Honestly, though. Who is even advising our Cabinet of Ministers, anyway? But never mind that, for now… because, well, who would have ev- er guessed? The unpredicted went on to happen, in the end… and with spectacular aplomb, too. (Indeed, things couldn't possibly have turned out more 'symbolic', had they been scripted and directed by Ingmar Bergman…) Let's start with the fact that a sin- gle, solitary question – asked by one of only a handful of people to have actually attended the event – ended up being the only aspect of the whole press conference that even got a mention in the press at all. So much so, that the news- paper article didn't even bother informing us what the original 'greening initiative' even was to begin with. (Was it a bird-bath? A playing field? A 'vertical garden'? I guess we'll never know…) But there is a good reason why that single question completely overshadowed the original pur- pose of the event itself: because, in just a few words, it sliced right through all the acres of 'green- wash', and homed in directly onto the crux of the entire matter. "Is the Marsaskala yacht marina project going to happen: yes, or no?" There, that's more like it! Never mind all the newly inaugurated 'family parks' and 'dog-friendly playgrounds'; never mind all the flower-beds on centre-strips, and all the newly-planted trees by roadsides (which, in any case, are only intended to block our view of the latest environmental calamity to have engulfed our neighbour- hoods, a little further down the road…). No: what many people in the south of Malta – and pretty much everywhere else, too – really want to know is: how long is this insan- ity going to continue? How much more of what is ours – our town- scapes, our countryside, our social well-being, or collective memo- ries, our public spaces, our health, our peace of mind, etc. – is going to be taken away from us, to be unceremoniously carved up and distributed among the wealthy few… while local communities are consistently left out of the equa- tion altogether? Or to put it in the words of the actual follow-up question (repeat- ed over and over again): "Are you [government] going to just con- tinue riding roughshod over the people… like you always do?" In any case: so much for the question. By the luck of the draw, it fell to Finance Minister Clyde Caruana to try and actually an- swer it; and to be fair, it's not as though he was given very much chance. For some unearthly reason, it seems that the gentleman ask- ing those questions was instantly dissatisfied with Caruana's reply, after just a few seconds. And who knows? Maybe it had something to do with the words our Finance Minister managed to say in those few seconds… which, to my ears, sounded a lot like: "I am not the most competent minister to answer that, because the Marsakala project doesn't fall under my own ministerial port- folio… nor that of my other two colleagues here…" Erm… yikes! I guess that already gives a partial explanation, as to why there seems to be so much 'disillusionment' – specifically targeting today's Labour govern- ment (if not those three cabinet members themselves) – to begin with. For let's face it: we're not ex- actly talking about 'a few trees be- ing chopped down' here; or even a single, isolated development project that may ruin someone's rooftop view. No, the Marsaskala yacht mari- na project represents a truly trans- formational threat, to the entire character and purpose of what is still – in spite of everything – a charming, and much-loved, local seaside community. The plans that we saw (and which Caruana was unwise enough to remind us of, in the rest of his reply) envisage the uptake of a total of 12,000sqm for land rec- lamation, and berthing structures for over 700 yachts: which would quite literally take up every square inch of the entire bay, to the detri- ment of the thousands of residents (and visitors) who quite rightly re- gard it as their own backyard. And quite apart from all the ob- vious, self-evident environmental and/or social impact this would have, on townscape and residents alike… there is also the undeni-