It had to take the Pope to come to Malta for us to resemble something like an EU member state.
It just had to take the Pope. Oh, and CHOGM, back in 2005.
The recent roadworks and embellishment to the island that has been going on has been welcomed, I would hope, by the majority of citizens, but nonetheless, at the same time, condemned and criticised. Why? Because this has confirmed that when it comes to having a commodity such as drivable roads, we need a major dignitary to set foot on the island - even if it is just for 36 hours, such as in His Holiness' case - for the situation to improve tenfold.
Simultaneously, the Government has argued that the majority - if not all - of the roadworks were scheduled to take place later on in the year, irrespective of whether the Pope was coming to Malta or not. Whether this is true or not, that's all the Government can indeed do to really save face at the moment. While such upgrades have been welcomed, the underlying tone seems to be as if the country can continue to procrastinate and live in mediocrity (with regards to this sector) until some fine day comes along whereby a certain road is targetted for repairs. In other words, us Maltese, who use these roads daily, are second class citizens.
It's not like local dignitaries have tried to even hide this fact too, with one comment being that "Malta needs to look its best" for occasions such as these. Unfortunately, I know that this is making me sound like some ignorant Labourite (stuck in the Mintoffian and KMB eras) commenting on the Times of Malta's website, but this is nothing other than the truth. Would I, as a driver, be able to drive along Naxxar Road, San Gwann, or the road up to Rabat for that matter, without feeling my car jolting along the way if Benedict XVI was not coming next week, right up until the end of the year? I sincerely doubt this is the case.
Oh well, amid the lack of excitement surrounding the Pope's visit, at least we've managed to garner this one positive thing out of it.
God Bless You all!
Matti
7 comments:
M'ghandux x'jaqsam second class citizens Zekk. The fact is that roads cost lots of money, more than they cost abroad, because Malta is small:- and opposite to popular belief this is a disadvantage due to economies of scale (no local contractor is gna invest in proper/efficient machinery for a contract of 1 or 2 roads). Apart from this the global economy has been in a recession for the past 2 or 3 years. Malta has more important issues to deal with right now rather than spending money on roads, though the situation seems to be improving. Also since we entered the EU a substantial number of roads have been re-built, some through EU funds. The problem is that because in the past there was no quality control, roads which had been rebuilt in the late 80's and 90's are already full of pot holes.
As such, this post wasn't a criticism of the Government Pawl. The reasoning you gave in your comment is completely correct and I understand that point fully.
The second class citizens comment though was a reference to the way how we, as the majority of Maltese, probably feel that things are/seem to be done only when there are important people coming to Malta. It's the impression the majority, myself included, get.
We are seeing now that, for the most part, when new roads are being constructed, they are being constructed properly and done up to EU standards. We deserve no less.
''The second class citizens comment though was a reference to the way how we, as the majority of Maltese, probably feel that things are/seem to be done only when there are important people coming to Malta.''
I disagree. So many aesthetic projects are undertaken without this aspect in mind. I am not aware of all of them ofcourse, as you are not either. But i can give you an example I a aware of: Valletta. The way Valletta has been transformed (Merchant street becoming pedestrian and the levelling of the ground, the Main Guard project, recently Archbishop Street down to st.Pauls is being pedestrianized, and soon we will have Freedom Square project. Along with the various buildings like the bibioteca/Piazza Regina, which have been restored).
I believe its only natural that the visit of the Pope:- who is one of the most important and influential people in the world, would cause some aesthetic projects a temporary boost in priority: such as certain roads through which he will be passing.
It is not a question of second class citizens. You can't compare yourself with the Pope, or the Queen for that matter. Thats a matter of international diplomacy and to a certain extent tourism and not the logistical running of the country.
I agree with Matthew.
Pawlu, your attempts at justifying the lack of road works hold no ground.
Well built roads are a very basic amenity.
And there is absolutely no excuse to why we should not have well built roads.
The reason we have a very poor transport infrastructure all boils down to politics.
Allow me to illustrate this with 2 examples:
Go to any street in mainland Qormi, all the roads are perfect!
Reason: The government/politicians from the area feel that Qormi is very important come election time, so they have to keep it looking good. No consideration is made to the amount of taxes that the people of Qormi contribute per head to the Maltese coffers because otherwise they would not deserve them.
Go to Madliena, and make sure you drive a 4x4 if you intend on doing so because the roads are a mess.
Reason: Madliena is a PN stronghold with an 85/90% PN majority. Why should the PN-led government bother throwing money at the people of Madliena, if it knows that come election time all the faithful will go out and cast their vote for the PN anyway. This is how the people who run the government think.
Here again, no consideration is made to the amount of taxes contributed per head (possibly the highest in all of Malta), otherwise all the roads in Madliena would be done up and all the roundabouts would have palm trees and flowers in them like everywhere else.
Roads in Malta are only built:
1. Prior to elections - Local or National (to shut people up and encourage them to vote for the party in government) and as Matthew rightly pointed out,
2. When the big bad irjus kbar ta' barra jigu Malta halli ma jindunghax li hawn Malta post imfarrak which is run by a government that instead of investing in the country's infrastructure prefers to throw money at it's problems: case in point being the bus reform and the dry docks aka the shit docks.
You'd have to be pretty blue eyed not to agree with Matthew's very balanced piece of writing.
No matter what argue you try to make it all boils down to politics and the fact that we are a nation of second class citizens with reasons which the government takes for granted.
The last roadworks in Madliena carried out 11 months ago. Why? because the MEP elections where right around the corner.
And while a large number of roads have been fixed around Malta, a lot of places have been given a touch up. Madliena is still the same and nothing has been done................ Why?...............................................Because the Pope won't be passing through here.
And if there are any mistakes in my grammar, punctuation etc.. is its because I couldn't be bothered to proof read this.
''And there is absolutely no excuse to why we should not have well built roads.''
Granted, but Rome wasn't built in a day. New roads as i've said are being done up to International standards. Previously they were most obviously not (by both governments). The only reason why right now only few roads are being re-done (apart from the ones being touched up for the Pope), is that as i've said the country is in a recession and if you'd have to see the amount of money allocated to building new roads is very limited considering the costs. The only way in which Malta can build roads at an affordable price is if they contract out a bulk of roads to one company, which requires loads of money, which as you might agree might not be the most important thing right now.
''The government/politicians from the area feel that Qormi is very important come election time, so they have to keep it looking good.''
Your argument holds no water. The roads within localities are the responsability of the Local Council and not the Governemt, so you can forget about this conspiracy theory that Stamperija decides which roads are to be done and which are to be left a mandra. If you want a road to be done in your locality you must lobby with your Local Council. It is ridiculously arrogant that people expect the Minister to come and patch up their road as soon as a hole surfaces.
''Here again, no consideration is made to the amount of taxes contributed per head (possibly the highest in all of Malta), otherwise all the roads in Madliena would be done up and all the roundabouts would have palm trees and flowers in them like everywhere else.''
These are once again issues related to the Local Council, the government gives the council a budget(based on various criteria-not voting preference), but it is the Local Council who decides how to spend it.
Also following your reasoning, if towns had to be allocated funds based on their tax contribution, towns in the south especially and the 3 cities would be in an even worse state than they are, due to the economic income of the average citizen is lower than of those in say the Madliena area as you quoted.
''Roads in Malta are only built:
1. Prior to elections - Local or National (to shut people up and encourage them to vote for the party in government) and as Matthew rightly pointed out,''
You do realise that roads aren't built overnight do you?
But even if you were right, then in the past 23 years we've had around 20 elections. Surely if your theory was correct, in the past 23 years the Government could have rebuilt all the streets of Malta in order to gain votes.
The point here is that in Malta there is some sort of election nearly every year or 2, thus any form of effort from the government to build a road will always be seen as a way of 'buying' votes.
''halli ma jindunghax li hawn Malta post imfarrak ''
Come on! Abit of an overstatement here!
'' case in point being the bus reform and the dry docks aka the shit docks.''
The Dry docks, which were eating into National Funds year in year out where finally closed down. How is this exactly something negative?
And with regards to the bus reform, i fail to see again how this can viewed negatively. The current system is in shambles. How did the government 'throw money' at this problem?
''Madliena is still the same and nothing has been done''
You should take this issue up with your Local council. Before you vote next time round go see who you're voting for and make sure they are promising to improve the roads.
I'm going to keep this short.
"Granted, but Rome wasn't built in a day."
And the Manwel Dimech bridge wasn't either...
"Your argument holds no water. The roads within localities are the responsability of the Local Council and not the Governemt" ....If you want a road to be done in your locality you must lobby with your Local Council."
Wrong, my argument holds more water than an Olympic sized swimming pool. Yours is centered around wishful thinking.
Here's where you lose everything. Local councils especially are definitely not allotted enough money to build roads.
In reality, local councils are given money to pay their administrative staff, pay contractors (rubbish collection, road street, pavement cleaning etc..), and carry out maintenance like patch work. If you honestly think any local council has the power and money to build roads then get your facts right.
Every road built in the area was built and financed directly by the government and not by the local council. However the local council might have recommended which road should have been done up.
"It is ridiculously arrogant that people expect the Minister to come and patch up their road as soon as a hole surfaces."
Exactly. Ministers have more important things to do. That's why local councils exist and that's why local councils carry out the patch working. But what does that solve, on roads that haven't been resurfaced in 20/30 years.
"You do realise that roads aren't built overnight do you?"
Wrong again, they are built literally overnight if the Pope is coming to visit.
"But even if you were right, then in the past 23 years we've had around 20 elections. Surely if your theory was correct, in the past 23 years the Government could have rebuilt all the streets of Malta in order to gain votes."
If you had to take wherever you hail from as an example the number of about 12-13 elections would have been held, only taking into account those under the PN. And for the record, wrong again because the only roadworks done in Madliena where only done exactly prior to elections so what you're saying is all bla, bla, bla and bla. One particular road, the tal-balal one which was resurfaced in 2007 already went crap because the work wasn't done correctly.
''halli ma jindunghax li hawn Malta post imfarrak ''
Come on! Abit of an overstatement here!
Yes it was a bit of an overstatement.
"The Dry docks, which were eating into National Funds year in year out where finally closed down. How is this exactly something negative?"
Because it took so long to do it, but I can understand the political reasoning behind it. But if we threw politics out of the window i'm sure that the dry docks would have shut their doors in 1999.
"And with regards to the bus reform, i fail to see again how this can viewed negatively. The current system is in shambles. How did the government 'throw money' at this problem?"
The reform is positive and may I add an "about fucking time" to that as well. You don't need me to tell you how the government threw money at the problem, you can see that for yourself.
"You should take this issue up with your Local council. Before you vote next time round go see who you're voting for and make sure they are promising to improve the roads."
Ha ha ha. lol
''If you honestly think any local council has the power and money to build roads then get your facts right.''
My facts are right. It is the local council which is in charge of roads within localities. The Govt. is only responsabile for Ring Roads etc...
Whether they are given enough money to do so is another issue.
''Wrong again, they are built literally overnight if the Pope is coming to visit''
People have already been grumbling that they are not being built well, so I wouldn't consider this an example of how roads should be built.
''Every road built in the area was built and financed directly by the government and not by the local council''
No no no. The Local council passes through the Government authority in charge of roads (I believe its the Malta Transport Authority but not sure).
'' And for the record, wrong again because the only roadworks done in Madliena where only done exactly prior to elections''
PRECISELY. If as you claim there were 15 elections in the past 20 years (thats an average of an election every 1 year 4 months!!!) It is no surprise AT ALL that the road was done before an election!.
Re:Dockyard''Because it took so long to do it''
It was never closed cos no one had the balls to shut it down. Mintoff ; historically malta's tough guy could never get around the dock yard and the bus drivers. Both which are now history.
''You don't need me to tell you how the government threw money at the problem, you can see that for yourself.''
No I truly don't. I believe the government dealt brilliantly with thugs who have been running our public transport for the past 50 years or more with no work ethic or decency (atleast the majority)
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