Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1505544
IN trying to come up with a way to describe the current public mood, I started off with 'angry'. Yes, many people are very angry at the state of the nation and it is palpable. But when it comes to others, they are more irritated, ex- asperated and simply fed up to the gills at the way things don't function as they should and the fact that our lives are a daily struggle to navigate be- tween point A and point B. So, I settled on 'disgruntled'; that feeling, just below the surface, of being permanently annoyed and in a bad mood. In contrast, we have an ad- ministration which seems to be deliberately oblivious to this sentiment. Either that, or it has taken a conscious decision to let people vent their anger until they are spent, in the hope that they can be distracted by the many events which take place during summer. Or maybe the government is banking on the effect of the heat which leaves you in such a lethargic stupor that it wears you down so you have no ener- gy left to put up a fight. Whatever the reason, the more people get all worked up, the more out of touch the Prime Minister, his Cabinet and basically anyone with po- litical ties to Labour seem to be. Ħondoq ir-Rummien was saved purely through the tire- less work of Qala Mayor Paul Buttigieg and environmental NGOs who have been fight- ing the developers (who want- ed to build a mega hotel and villa complex) for the last 20 years. The application was re- jected again and again and this week the Appeals Court ruled against the developer's ap- peal from a tribunal decision, bringing the saga to an end. However, Robert Abela turned around and tried to take credit by saying that he was always on the side of the NGOs and that PA laws would be amended to ensure no oth- er application can be submit- ted for this site. Maybe he has forgotten, but a public domain act was passed through parlia- ment in 2016 which included Ħondoq as one of the loca- tions proposed for protection. In 2019, it was reported that the law had remained on pa- per and there was no willing- ness to implement it. So, for him to now say that laws will be amended is a bit rich when a law which protects this very area is already in place and is gathering dust. It's another instance of the PM acting as if what is hap- pening to destroy the environ- ment has nothing to do with him and that his hands are tied when it comes to develop- ment. If this administration real- ly wanted to, it could pass a law tomorrow to immediately reject all new applications to develop what should be pro- tected ODZ land. It could even pass a law to put a moratorium on all further construction, pe- riod, and only allow develop- ment applications which have already been given a permit to proceed. That is what I would expect of a government which claims to have the interest of the people at heart. The clueless nature of what political appointees say versus the zeitgeist was also demon- strated by an ill-advised Face- book post by Jason Micallef (chairman of the Valletta Cul- tural Agency). He described the Mosta Rotunda project this way: "a gift to Mosta resi- dents… a new beautiful Pjazza Rotunda, which is unrecognis- able from the way it was be- fore. This the biggest project we have ever seen in Mosta which is only thanks to the determination and hard work of the Mayor Chris Grech, and the Labour majority on the Mosta Local Council . A great big thanks also go to the Cen- tral Government and Infra- structure Malta for financing and sustaining the Pjazza Ro- tunda project." If he feels the need to pro- fusely thank the government for doing its job from our tax- es and for giving Mosta a 'gift', he is one of the few Mosta res- idents who share in this fawn- ing admiration. We have been subjected to several years of chaos and upheaval, business- es have gone under and res- idents have had to breathe in heavy dust while being careful not to break their legs or necks from the lack of safety because of the trenches and blocked pavements which force you to walk in the street. And it's not just the square itself which has the appear- ance of a bomb site. In April of this year, the owners of sev- en businesses based in Mosta's main street, which leads to the square, filed a law suit over roadworks which have been ongoing since 2020. According to the plaintiffs, "they accused the authorities of deciding to start infrastruc- ture works without any logi- cal or serious plan, describing the works as being carried out carelessly and shoddily and complaining that they had suffered a substantial loss of earnings and damages as a result. As a result of the total lack of planning of the infra- structural works, the road had to be dug up twice." I can understand that ma- jor roadworks and new infra- structure need to be carried out, but what no one can un- derstand is why it should take so long to finish a relatively small area, and why we should be grateful. The days of grov- elling at the feet of politicians in pathetic gratitude for doing their job are over. Meanwhile, an artistic im- pression showing how the project will eventually look is currently on display, but according to the Mayor it won't be ready before Christ- mas. Maybe that is what Mr Micallef meant when he de- scribed it as a 'gift'. The disgruntlement at the general shabbiness, disorgan- isation, lack of discipline and enforcement we see all around us is echoed in every aspect of our lives, although you will still find the politically blink- ered who are quick to chastise you for "always complaining". Even the tragic story of Jean Paul Sofia, whose mother bat- tled so courageously for jus- tice, was flipped into an unbe- lievable accusation that 'she is only doing it to make the gov- ernment look bad." Who are these small-minded (not to mention heartless) people who hold the Labour Party (or any party) on such a high pedestal that it is "the party and only the party, uber alles"? This reverential worship is not only seriously warped when we are talking about a mother who has lost her son, but it is worrying on a nation- al level, because it is precisely these types who encourage the current administration to re- main smugly confident that it will remain in power. For, let's face it, while it has been a disastrous few months for the Labour government when it comes to public opin- ion - what keeps striking me and everyone else as odd is that even as the Labour Party keeps shedding votes in the polls, this is not being trans- lated into votes for the PN. Why is that? I think one of the reasons is that when Labour politicians make gaffes, people find it easy to come up with funny quips and create memes, but this does not necessarily mean that they will be voting PN next time. The Facebook jokes are just a way to join in the banter and the sport of gov- ernment-bashing, but so far not enough disgruntled voters seem to be inspired by the Op- position on how they would do things any differently. The tangible problems of a country which has been over- run by rubbish, construction, bumper to bumper traffic and an out-of-control model of importing economic migrants are the major concerns of the average voter. Who will step up and provide us with re- al, feasible solutions to these pressing issues? maltatoday | SUNDAY • 13 AUGUST 2023 OPINION 5 If this administration really wanted to, it could pass a law tomorrow to immediately reject all new applications to develop what should be protected ODZ land... that is what I would expect of a government which claims to have the interest of the people at heart A disgruntled nation and a smug administration Josanne Cassar