Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/767061
15 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 24 DECEMBER 2016 2016: Looking back John Soler (director of Townsquare Ltd) We have been accused of greed and you mention it too… If we have a right to build something, according to policy, why should we not build it? Anthony Chircop (Sliema mayor) Had things been planned better 40 years ago, and had the possibility existed to buy three or four houses and redevelop them into single blocks… we might have had taller buildings longer ago, but with more open space Sandro Chetcuti (president of Malta Developers Association) The projects that are going up today, are selling. I would worry about the bubble only if they weren't Brenda Murphy (head of UoM's Department of Gender Studies) Ultimately, the strongest argument for change is that it doesn't really make economic sense to perpetuate gender stereotypes. There will always be backlash Chris Mizzi (award- winning youth worker and Moviment Graffitti activist) There's no point in telling someone not to play football, unless you give him a basketball court instead. Ultimately, I think it goes back to the core issue of our identity as a nation. We have been independent for just over 50 years now, but in all that time we have never really sat down and held a discussion about what direction we actually want to go Elias Khoury (Lebanese author) We human beings are losers. If you win all the time you become mad. Nature is wise enough to make us taste both victory and defeat and learn how to be humble. This idea that you can win all the time makes you impossible. Israel is an impossible thing Lara Dimitrijevic (lawyer and chair of Women's Rights Foundation) Ironically, other forms of hormonal contraception that are freely available in Malta have more of a chance of inducing an abortion than the morning-after pill Leonid McKay (director Caritas) The 'trickle-down effect' in economics is a myth. And it shows, because we've seen a boom in the economy, but we didn't see any corresponding reversal in the poverty rate Andre Callus (Moviment Graffitti activist) If you say that you can only raise the minimum wage with the permission of employers, what you are effectively saying is that it is the employers who are governing the country, not you Joseph Muscat (Prime Minister) I will use the power of delivery, delivering what we promised. There's much more to be done Simon Busuttil (leader of the Opposition) People expect action and this is a turning point on Muscat's credibility. Unless he takes action the people will not believe him anymore José Herrera (environment minister) It is this government's policy, take it or leave it, to be pro- business. It wants to attract foreign direct investment, grow the GDP, create employment and improve the standard of living. To do this, we cannot be closed within ourselves