Użu Tal-Art

L-art hi l-aktar riżors skars u ta’ valur f’pajjiżna. Jeżistu limitazzjonijiet ċari għal kemm jista’ jkollna art disponibbli għall-użu. Maż-żmien, it-talba għal din l-art biex tintuża b’mod jew ieħor kellha tiżdied, kif għamlet. Żdied il-prezz tagħha. Kompliet tikber il-pressjoni biex l-art tintuża b’mod aktar intensiv.

Biss, minkejja li kulħadd għaraf kemm hi prezzjuża l-art, jew forsi minħabba f’hekk, baqgħu jittieħdu deċiżjonijiet li – m’hemmx kelma oħra – huma irrazzjonali.

Fil-qafas Malti, suppost hi ħaġa li malajr tiftiehem: li tibni fil-għoli ħafna jagħmel sens.

Imma minflok tellajna l-għoli fiċ-ċentru tal-irħula u l-ibliet tagħna, u minn hemm niżżilna t-tul tal-blokok sakemm l-aktar baxxi jkunu mal-kosta, għamilna bil-maqlub. L-għoli nett tela’ ma’ xifer il-baħar.

U rajna l-iżvilupp ta’ proġetti bħal ta’ Tignè, fejn tippredomina l-kruha.

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Serq

Għadni nħossni skomdu meta nsegwi kampanji li jagħmlu l-awtoritajiet kontra dawk li jabbużaw mis-sistema tal-benefiċċji soċjali.

Fil-mira ssib li hemm l-aktar ċittadini li ġejjin minn familji żvantaġġjati, bla kapital “kulturali”, jew kważi. (Jiġifieri li ma jafu xejn dwar kif jistgħu jtejbu l-livell tal-għajxien tagħhom għax trabbew f’kondizzjonijiet ta’ akkarija.) Jaraw kif se jobormu l-benefiċċji soċjali, tal-qgħad, tal-mard, u ta’ x’kull ma hemm aktar – hekk jafu.

Dan ħażin u għandu jiġi kontrollat. Imma bil-qies u bi ħsieb.

Għax hemm nies oħra li għandhom kapital “kulturali” ferm akbar li wkoll qed jerdgħu mis-sistema soċjali u fiskali tagħna, bla ma jagħtu fil-għajn. Insemmi kif dejjem jissemmew, professjonisti u ażjendi li sabu kif jaħdmu fl-ekonomija “sewda”, bla ma jħallsu VAT jew jiddikjaraw il-qligħ kollu tagħhom. Biex tgħaxxaqha, dan l-aħħar bdew isemmuli wkoll abbużi sfaċċati fit-tħaddim tal-frank għall-ġenituri – sistema meħtieġa imma hi wkoll diġà soġġetta għall-abbuż.

Is-serq hu serq, jagħmlu min jagħmlu.

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Kontabilità

M’hemm xejn ġdid għaddej fid-diskussjoni, jekk tista’ ssejħilha hekk, dwar kontabilità, abbuż tal-poter u korruzzjoni. Kemm ili involut fil-ħidma politika, mill-aħħar tas-snin sebgħin, dejjem kienet għaddejja.

Il-problema kienet u għadha kif se jinħolqu istituzzjonijiet li jissalvagwardjawna kontra dawn il-pjagi. Minn kullimkien jinqalgħu riżervi u oġġezzjonijiet meta timbotta ħalli jitwettqu bidliet radikali li tassew jistgħu jrażżnu t-taħwid li jkun għaddej.

Matul is-snin, l-aktar li sibtha kurjuża hi r-reazzjoni li tqum meta ssemmi li għal reati bħal dawk imsemmija, għandu jkun hemm pieni iebsa u li jitwettqu bla eċċezzjoni, ġraw meta ġraw l-offiżi. Dan kemm hu kelb aħdar! igħidu minn taħt.

F’soċjetà żgħira bħal tagħna, ftit huma lesti li jitqiesu ta’ kelb aħdar.

English Version – Land Use

Land in Malta is the scarcest and most valuable resource. Clear limitations should exist regarding what percentage of land available is to be allocated to developent. With time, the demand for available land to be used one way or the other was bound to increase – and it did. Ditto the price of land. Pressures grew for a more intensive use of it.

Still, even while everybody accepted that land is our most precious asset, or perhaps for that reaosn, irrational decisions – there’s no better adjective to describe them – continued to be taken.

In the Maltese context, it should have been clear that high rise buildings make sense.

However, instead of placing them at the centre of urban concentrations, from where the height of succeeding blocs would decline till the lowest were located closest to the coastline, we did the opposite. The highest buildings were erected at the water’s edge.

So we saw projects like the one at Tigne come on line, with ugliness as their distinctive feature.

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Theft

I still feel uncomfortable with the campaigns launched by the powers that be against those who abuse social benefits.

They are mostly targeting members of disadvantaged families, who lack totally or almost “cultural” capital. (Meaning that they do not know how to improve their standards of living because they have been brought up in conditions of deprivation and penury.) They concentrate on scrounging off social benefits (unemployment, sickness, whatever) because that’s the life they know.

This is wrong and has to be brought under control – with prudence however and care.

For there are other people who have no lack of “cultural” capital and who are also quite adept at manipulating our social and fiscal systems to their benefit, while remaining outside the spotlight. As usual in this context, one mentions the professionals and the firms that have understood how to operate in the black economy, without paying VAT or having to declare thier income in full. To update the picture, I was recently told about glaring abuses in the implementation of parental leave – a system that is much needed but which is already being abused.

No matter who’s responsible for it – theft remains theft.

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Accountability

There’s nothing new in the ongoing discussion, if one can call it that, about accountability, abuse of power and corruption. Since I first got involved in political work, towards the end of the seventies of the previous century, it’s been a never ending story.

The problem was and is how to establish the institutions that can really safeguard us from these malpractices. When one starts pushing for the implementation of radical measures that could truly clamp down on the ongoing shady games, reservations and objections soon arise from all points of the compass.

What I found most curious over the years, was the reaction to a proposal that for crimes such as those listed, tough penalties should be implemented without exception, no matter when the facts took place. Whoever pushes for such a measure is soon subjected to a whispering campaign that labels him or her a vindictive bastard

In a small society like ours, few care to be considered as vindictive bastards.