Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1498861
13 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 10 MAY 2023 OPINION accident...' not itself mean that those people are actually the victims of a cunning, sub- tle (and above all, State-orchestrated) 'Final Solution', to Malta's overpopu- lation woes... Or at least: not until you put those figures into their proper context; and view them against the backdrop of all the government's other 'plans' and 'policies', over the years, regarding the traffic situation in its totality. In so doing, the first thing you will notice is: Fact #3: Over the past 10 or so years, the government of Malta has invested literally billions of euros – including not just taxpayers' money; but also, EU funding – into 'improving the country's traffic infrastructure'. Last year, for instance, a PQ revealed that Infrastructure Malta, alone, had spent over €12 million on 'consultan- cy fees'. Beneficiaries included the traffic consultancy firm, Arup; the aforementioned 'Malta Roads Safety Council' (that's right: the one that nobody's ever even heard of); and we were also told that: "Lawyers Alex Scerri Herrera, now Parliamentary Secretary Andy Ellul, Aaron Mifsud Bonnici, now Justice Minister Jon- athan Attard, Charlon Gouder, Joe Gerada and Maria Cardona (former wife of Chris Cardona) each made thousands of euros from [Transport Malta] consultancies..." And that, of course, is not to men- tion the (probably incalculable) amounts of money this government has also frittered, over the past dec- ade, on gargantuan infrastructural projects such as the Marsa flyover, the Central Link, and the 'road-widening exercises' that have taken place. pret- ty much all over the entire country. All of which were justified, by gov- ernment, on the grounds that - to quote another Cabinet Minister this time (Aaron Farrugia, responsible for the Transport portfolio) - "our aim has been to make sure that our roads are [cough, splutter] SAFE; and to KEEP OUR CARS MOVING AT PACE..." [my emphasis, both times] Once again, however: there are only so many ways those facts can actu- ally be interpreted, at the end of the day. Either the government of Malta has literally wasted untold billions in tax-payers' money, over the course of a decade, on various 'consultancies' and 'projects' that have been such spectacular, colossal FAILURES... that Malta's roads are now infinitely more dangerous, than they ever have been in past. In which case: the very least one would expect, is for all the entities/ individuals involved, in this scandal- ous example of 'maladministration', to actually shoulder their collective responsibilities for the fiasco (ei- ther by resigning, or by being simply 'booted out'). Another interpretation, however, is that: far from being the 'failures' that they appear to be... all those 'consul- tancies' and 'projects' were actually a [pun intended] 'smashing success'! Not only have they all played their own (minor) part, in enacting the government's 'cunning plan' to slow- ly cut the Maltese population back down to size, as it were... ... but – in true conspiracy theo- ry fashion – they even followed the instructions that 'M' always gave, in every single Bond movie ever made, right down to the very last letter! "One last thing, 007. Make it look like an accident, this time..." The government of Malta has literally wasted untold billions in tax-payers' money, over the course of a decade, on various 'consultancies' and 'projects' that have been such spectacular, colossal failures... that Malta's roads are now infinitely more dangerous, than they ever have been in past.