Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1519042
YOU'VE got to hand it to politi- cians like Owen Bonnici, though. They have a certain genius for expressing all the frustration the entire country will be expe- riencing, at any given moment… in just a few simple words, that everyone can instantly under- stand. Right now, for instance, there is a growing wave of civil society disgruntlement, aimed specifically at the constant encroachment of public places by restaurants, bars, cafes, etc. Now: I'll grant you that it might not be the most earth-shatteringly important issue to actually be dis- cussing, at the moment… but bear with me, I'll come back to that in a short while. Let's just say, for now, that this week's protest in Mellieha - where activists 'blockaded' one particu- lar restaurant, by occupying its outdoor tables themselves – was but the latest in a series of similar clashes between civil society and private enterprise, on the thorny subject of 'whom Malta's streets and squares actually belong to'. In Valletta, Merchants Street was temporarily cleared of tables and chairs to make way for this year's Holy Week festivities… but on- ly after the Our Lady of Sorrows procession had been given anoth- er 'punjalata', so to speak, by res- taurants which continued playing loud music, even as it was passing by. Likewise, Archpriest Joseph Cur- mi took to Facebook last month, to complain about similar 'land-grabs' going on in Gozo: particularly, in St George's Square, Victoria. Specifically, he lambasted the general lack of enforcement and accountability: "We have tried good will, dialogue and compro- mise. We have tried to meet the business owners personally. We tried talks lasting several months with the authorities including the police, Transport Malta, the Malta Tourism Authority, local councils and the Lands Authority. They all insist in one way or another that they hold no authority or involve- ment over St George Square"… … to which I am tempted to add: "Hey! You're not alone, bro! I live in Gzira, and walk to Sliema and back every other day of the week. And you know what? It's a bit like Mike Tyson returning to the ring, at age 58, to take on a 27-year-old You- Tuber named Jake Paul. You have to duck, bob, weave, and side-step your way through a never-ending array of obstacles… just not to trip over a chair, or get yourself acci- dentally knocked out by a passing waiter. (And not unlike Tyson: I'm getting a little too old for sort of thing too, you know…) So what can I say? I feel your pain, Fr Cur- mi! I really, really do…" But in any case: like I said earli- er, this issue many indeed appear somewhat trivial, in a world domi- nated by so much war and carnage, everywhere you look… but some- thing tells it is precisely this sort of 'trivial' issue – far more than all the serious ones – that REALLY end up packing a punch where it hurts the most (for politicians, anyway). If nothing else, because you can always choose to simply disregard all those other scandals, and calam- ities – and let's face it: that's what most people tend to do, anyway – but it is quite frankly impossible to ignore a problem that keeps crop- ping up, right in your face, every single time you take a step out of your own front door, and walk a few paces down your own street. Simply put: the 'encroachment of public places by catering estab- lishments' is NOT one of those is- sues that any politician can afford to lightly brush aside: especially when (as happens to be the case with Owen Bonnici) many of those complaints are coming directly from voters in their own district. That's Marsascala, in this in- stance: and oh, look. Just like Sliema, St Julian's, Bugibba, Marsaxlokk, and most of Gozo (oh, and Comino, too. Let's not forget the Blue Lagoon)… Wied il-Ghajn is also suddenly awash with little green leaflets, affixed to every avail- able surface, with the words: "Stop destroying our town!" "Give us back our square!" "Keep public spaces public!", etc., etc., etc. And yet, and yet… what was Ow- en Bonnici's reaction, when asked to comment on such a clearly 'emotive' controversy? OK, let's start with the positive for a change. Evidently, the junior minister for Local Councils does at least understand the urgency; he did, after all, repeatedly stress that, "It is crucial that economic growth is sustainable and does not tram- ple on the welfare of Maltese and Gozitans"; "We are very sensitive towards what is being said"; "it is important to protect the people's welfare and the economy…"; and all sorts of other stuff like that. The problem, however, is that all those statements were strung to- gether to somehow reach a conclu- sion that, quite frankly, contradicts the entire lot of them. Having first assured us that his government in- tends to at least 'listen' to all these complaints… he went on to echo the fatal words immortalised by countless other politicians before him; and in so doing, shot his own credibility to atoms. 'We need to strike a balance be- tween…' Wait, no, stop! I can't even bring myself to carry on that sentence... again, for reasons that are reminis- cent of Tyson's imminent come- back, next July. I have, in a nut- shell, 'taken too many blows on the head', over the course of the last 30-odd years, to sustain yet anoth- er 'right uppercut/left hook combo' to the jaw. (Translation: I've heard that line repeated so many times, by so many different politicians, that it has probably caused me per- manent brain-damage, by now.) So let's just fast-forward to the obvious return-punch… which also happens to consist in a dou- ble-whammy 'combo'. First up: by repeating, yet again, that 'we need to… [Ugh! Fill in the rest for yourselves]', Owen Bon- nici has only reconfirmed, for the umpteenth time, that no such 'bal- ance' has ever been struck, at all. For if our government has done nothing but tell us that, repeated- ly, for all these years – and I'm old enough to remember when the exact same words were uttered by Eddie Fenech Adami, George Pul- licino, Austin Gatt, Francis Zam- mit Dimech, Tonio Borg, Alfred Sant, Karmenu Vella… you name the Maltese politician; they've all said it, at one point or other – and STILL we hear it repeated again, today… … how many others ways can that even be interpreted, anyway? It only means one thing, as far I can see. Yes, Dr Bonnici: successive administrations of Malta's govern- ment – your own included – have been promising us a 'balance be- tween the environment, and the economy' for the better part of the last half-century… yet not a single one of them has ever actually deliv- ered on that promise, and 'struck that goddamn 'balance', once and for all! All of which brings me to the sec- ond part of the combo: who does Owen Bonnici (or any of the oth- ers, for that matter) actually mean, maltatoday | SUNDAY • 14 APRIL 2024 10 OPINION 'We need to find a balance', do we? You don't bloody say… Raphael Vassallo