Wegħdi

Interessanti kif kampanja elettorali li faqqgħet mil-lum għal għada, sabet liż-żewġ partiti l-kbar li qed jikkontestawha, lesti bil-wegħdi tagħhom. Nistħajjel li għad nisimgħu aktar minnhom fil-ftit ġimgħat li fadal.
Li laqatni f’dawn il-wegħdi hu l-aspett ekonomiku-soċjali tagħhom. (Qed neskludi minn dan il-wegħdi tal-Oppożizzjoni Nazzjonalista dwar governanza u korruzzjoni, li ninsab konvint, kieku tkun fil-gvern, ma tonorax.)
Bħalissa l-partiti qed iħossuhom f’pożizzjoni li jistgħu jagħmlu proposit li bihom itejbu bil-kbir il-qagħda taċ-ċittadini. Interessanti kif kważi ħadd ma ħareġ jgħidilhom li qed iwegħdu s-sema fl-art.
Hemm raġuni waħda għal dan. Fl-aħħar snin, taħt tmexxija Laburista, l-ekonomija għamlet progress enormi. Konna ilna deċennji ma naraw tkabbir ekonomiku daqstant qawwi. Kulħadd allura qed jassumi li se jkun hemm aktar x’jitqassam.
It-tellieqa m’għadhiex dwar kif li hemm se jissostna, imma dwar kif l-aħjar jitqassam il-ġid ekonomiku ġdid li hu mistenni jissawwar, grazzi għas-suċċess Laburista.
FAMILJA MILL-MIDJA
Matul l-aħħar snin, innotajt kif qamu kriżijiet ċkejkna fis-soċjetà tagħna meta preżentatur jew ieħor ta’ programmi regolari fuq ir-radjo jew it-televixin jinbidlu. Jew għax il-programm jitqies bħala xi ftit jew wisq skadut u jiddaħħal ieħor minfloku, jew għax tinbidel skeda ta’ programmi fi tmiem staġun.
Il-preżentatur iħossu ttradut u jirvella. Jitqanqlu miegħu is-semmiegħa/telespettaturi li jkunu qed isegwuh. Tassew jinħassu bħala familja li ġiet urtata fil-mod kif torganiżża ħajjitha u kif tistma lill-“mexxej” jew kap tal-familja tagħha.
Il-biċċa ta’ spiss issir serja, bi preżentaturi li jħossuhom ġew trattati ħażin, iqisu li l-politika taħti. U allura jitilqu għat-triq li jekk ikunu blu, isiru ħomor, jew viċi versa. Igħiduli li f’każi hekk, ikun hemm min fil-“familja” medjatika tagħhom li jagħmel l-istess.
STUDJU DWAR IS-SAJD
Ġie f’idi studju akkademiku miktub minn Alicia Said u studjużi oħra mill-Università ta’ Kent dwar is-sajjieda tradizzjonali Maltin fil-qasam tat-tonn. Laqatni ħafna għax jorbot ma’ dak li ili nisma’ u nara, tant li tkellimt dwar is-suġġett kemm-il darba fil-Parlament Ewropew.
Tul l-aħħar sbatax-il sena, ġraw żewġ żviluppi li qagħbru bil-kbir lis-sajjieda tradizzjonali Maltin. Kien hemm il-wasla tas-sajd industrijali għat-tonn, li jqalla’ l-flus lill-pajjiż, u li l-gvern ħeġġeġ. U internazzjonalment, daħal għarfien li t-tonn bħala ħut qed jinqered u jeħtieġ jingħata protezzjoni biex il-popolazzjoni tiegħu tikber; allura twaqqfet is-sistema tal-kwoti. Minn tal-aħħar, ibbenefikaw bil-kbir l-azjendi “industrijali” tat-tonn, u għal diversi raġunijiet, is-sajjieda tradizzjonali qed jispiċċaw imwarrba.
Dil-ħaġa ili nħossha mill-ispjegi li kont nisma’. Madankollu r-rapport ta’ Said u sħabha jikkonferma b’mod riċerkat, l-ilmenti tas-sajjieda tradizzjonali.

Promises

It is interesting how a snap election campaign found the two major parties ready with their promises. I guess we’ll be learning about more of them in the remaining couple of weeks.

What struck me in promises being made is their socio-economic carry over. (I’m excluding from this Nationalist commitments regarding governance and corruption, for I’m convinced that if the Opposition gets to govern, these commitments would be ignored.)

As of now, the parties feel they are in a position to make such proposals in order to greatly improve people’s standards of living. And it is also interesting that practically nobody has yet come out to tell them they’re promising pie in the sky.

There’s just one reason for this. In recent years, under a Labour administration, the economy has made huge progress. It had been decades since we last experienced such strong growth. Everybody is therefore assuming there will be more to distribute.

The competition is no longer about how best to maintain what has been achieved, but about how best to organize the greater wealth that is being expected, due to the economic success of the Labour administration.

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Media family

In past years, one could note how petty crises broke out in our society when some host or other of a regular radio or television show was retired. Either because his/her programme was considered to have become somewhat dated and in need of replacement, or because of a general review of the programming schedule at the end of a season.

The host concerned would deem him/herself shortchanged and rise up in revolt. Listeners and televiewers of the show would publicly back him/her. They all actually end up like a family which feels hurt at how its way of life has been degraded, and at the lack of respect shown towards its “leader” or if you like, head of family.

The problem quickly escalates, with hosts of media shows who feel raw at their treatment, blaming political interference for their setback. So, they go down the path of turning red if they are blue, or vice versa. I’ve been told that members of their media “family” follow in their footsteps.

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Study on tuna fisheries

I’ve just been through a research study by Alicia Said and fellow academics from the University of Kent about Maltese artisanal fishermen in the blue tunafish sector.

During the past fourteen years, developments have greatly damaged the interests of traditional Maltese fishermen. There was the emergence of industrial fishing for tuna, which earns foreign exhange for the country, and which the government promoted. Then internationally, recognition grew about how tuna was being fished to extinction and that a conservation policy was needed to ensure the revival of fish populations. A quota system was therefore set up. The latter benefitted greatly the “industrial” tuna firms, while for a number of reasons, traditional fishermen were shunted aside.

I had long ago understood that this was happening from fishermen’s accounts. However, the report by Said et al. confirms through research that the grievances of the traditional operators are justified.