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The Scicluna blueprint

"The prime deficiencies lie in leadership, organisation and coordination." These were some of the words spoken by Martin Scicluna in his address during Din l-Art Helwa’s annual meeting held last week.

They could have been mistaken for those of a budding, idealistic politician. Yet everyone knows that Mr Scicluna is no politician. He is an altruistic man with a heart for culture and conservation and with a vision for his country.

Mr Scicluna was in top form. His eloquence (albeit restricted to the English language) did much to drive home the point that this country is in a bloody mess.

His speech was not rhetoric and was peppered with examples which should serve to shake each and every politician, irrespective of their political leanings.

His most significant statement being: "There is much talk and many reports but not enough action."

In Martin Scicluna’s presentation we sensed that the man had put his finger on all the right buttons by also presenting what we view as a blueprint for the future.

The stark reality is that both the government and opposition are unwilling to paint the true picture, lest they lose votes.

It was Mr Scicluna who pointed out that the Gozo ministry has 3,000 employees. He did not say that half of these are nowhere to be found after the clock strikes noon.

He did not add that many Gozitans take sick leave in April and May to ensure that they get the better part of the Turtle Dove and Quail migration.
But the former top senior British serviceman did insinuate that public funds are used to support the salaries of many of these individuals.

He went on to talk of the thousands of liri that are pumped into things such as carnival floats (Lm60,000) and also remarked on the quality of life.

He reminded us that this is a country with a disposable income of Lm1,082 million per year or Lm8,300 per household, and a nation where 200,000 people travelled abroad and spent Lm88 million in 2001. And a country that has personal bank savings of almost Lm1,800 million.

Why, he asked, did we have such a pittance for the environment?

But his contribution was also an opportunity to look at the waste of resources and the mismanagement at government level.

It is no secret that we are facing a scenario with different ministries operating as separate regimes independently from each other, and with the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing.

The detailed proposals made by Mr Scicluna will fall on deaf ears - about this we are sure.

There is no one in government screening these proposals - worse still everyone seems to be taking everything and everyone for granted.

Perhaps it would be helpful to conclude with a quote from Mr Sclicluna’s speech; some thoughts we can only concur with:

"Ministers meet in Cabinet every Monday. They make perfectly sensible policy decisions according to their own lights – their own political priorities and persuasions. But then these are passed to their civil servants. And often little happens. Or it happens in an incoherent and uncoordinated way."