|
At the peak of the tourism crisis, a number of hoteliers proposed Nationalist backbencher Robert Arrigo to be appointed as a replacement for the much reviled tourism minister Francis Zammit Dimech – Arrigo’s heavyweight 10th district rival. Arrigo, a hotelier himself and a fixture of Sliema life – formerly mayor and current president of the Sliema Wanderers football club whose radical business sense turned the fortunes of the club around back in the 90s, is fully aware that hoteliers had proposed him for the post. Without criticising the present minister, he does not refrain from declaring his interest in the post. “I am always available to render any kind of service, not just that of tourism minister. People from the sector had proposed me for the simple reason that I have hands-on experience in tourism.”
 He stops short of going above board in proposing himself for the post, insisting that appointing ministers should be the sole prerogative of the Prime Minister whose word he regards as final. Neither does he badmouth Zammit Dimech – he doesn’t say whether he would make a better tourism minister.
Still, he rejects the argument that he is ineligible for the post because his involvement in the industry exposes him to a conflict of interest. “It was nice that the government appointed Sam Mifsud as the chairman of the Malta Tourism Authority because Sam Mifsud is like me.”
Surely Sam Mifsud’s appointment has paved the way for Arrigo to pursue a post in the cabinet. “By appointing Mifsud we have removed this stigma, which we call conflict of interest. There is no conflict of interest as long as you do not use your post to obtain something, which you should not obtain in the first place. No-one should be found guilty because of his success in life.”
He also rebuts criticism that he is ineligible for the post because he owns three hotels. According to Arrigo, two of the hotels he owns are leased out to third parties and that 90 per cent of the clients he brings to Malta as a handling agent are not accommodated in his hotels. “In this sector, everything you do is open to scrutiny and anybody in that post would be stupid to abuse of his position. Who says that I have a conflict of interest is only interested in harming me.”
Although he is careful not to criticise Zammit Dimech, Arrigo does not mince his words in criticising the Brand Malta campaign. “You should not brand Malta locally, you should brand Malta where your clients are. I agree that a campaign should be conducted to show the importance of the industry in Malta but it should have been focused and not conducted on such a large scale.”
The big welcome given to Ryanair, with bands playing in the airport, also failed to impress Arrigo. “I would not have welcomed them with bands and celebrations. This was an important commercial decision. God forbid that we do a feast whenever a decision is taken.” But Arrigo has no qualms on Ryanair coming to Malta. “For air travel Ryanair is what HSBC is to banking. Malta cannot escape such a big player.”
According to the would-be minister, the future belongs to low cost airlines, foreseeing that in five years’ time travelling on low cost airlines will be free of charge as in-flight casinos are introduced. “Even national airlines like Air Malta will have to become more similar to low cost airlines.”
But according to Arrigo, Air Malta was “heavy on its feet to act” – “It only acted when Ryanair came in. This is bad. It should have acted a couple of years ago. Had we done so we would not even have needed Ryanair because we would have created our own low cost subsidiary as other national airlines have done.”
Ryanair have a reputation for being ruthless, that they come, see and conquer only to leave when they find greener pastures in some virgin destination. But Arrigo is not unduly worried. “Anybody in this game has to be ruthless and you will always find people who smile and joke like Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary but who are still ruthless when it comes to business. The competition is fierce and we have to be prepared by increasing our numbers. With a bit of effort we can increase our numbers to 1.5 million tourists.”
But what about the environmental cost of tourism. Are we simply killing the goose laying the golden eggs? “The environment is not as important as we make it out to be. Cyprus this year had more construction than we have and still had more clients. I’ve been around for 33 years in the industry. We have improved our product and people like us how we are.”
Rather than environmental degradation it was poor marketing and the lack of communication with tour operators which led to the tourism crisis. “If you discard or ignore tour operators, they simply sell their packages to other destinations to make more money without hassle.”
Arrigo also has a number of concrete proposals for reviving Malta as a destination. He proposes the setting up of a free-to-air satellite station simply called ‘Malta’ that can be reached in every place. “This would give the client the chance to appreciate Malta in his or her free time rather than by sheer coincidence through sporadic adverts.” He also believes that some of MTA offices in Europe, which were closed, should be re-opened.
We turn to the subject of politics, where Robert Arrigo was elected for the first time from the 10th district after toppling Zammit Dimech’s predecessor Michael Refalo in the 2003 election. But next time round the PN is expected to lose a seat in the 10th district because Gzira – a locality equally divided between the two parties – was added to the district while Swieqi – an overwhelmingly PN locality – was transferred to the 9th district.
Arrigo is aware of the difficulties. “Unlike Swieqi which is 85 per cent Nationalist, Gzira is only 55 per cent Nationalist. This means that the PN risks losing 1,500 votes from the district which will be gained in the 9th district.”
The district is also contested by heavyweights like George Pullicino, Francis Zammit Dimech and Dolores Cristina – does Arrigo risk losing his seat? Arrigo is confident that this is not the case. “When Eddie Fenech Adami phoned me urging me to contest, I was on work-related business in Germany. When I arrived I had barely 26 days for my campaign. I was lucky to be one of the four elected. It’s not normal for a candidate to get elected the first time.”
But Arrigo does not exclude the possibility that the PN wins a fourth seat in either the 9th or the 10th district. “That depends a lot on how the new voters will vote. There is a very large amount of new voters in both district.”
Competition for the three sure seats on the 10th district is bound to be intense. How are his relations with his district rivals George Pullicino and Francis Zammit Dimech? “I have a very good relationship with all the candidates. With some colleagues I have an excellent relationship, but I have no problems working with anyone.”
But will the relationship get sour as canvassers start badmouthing the rival candidates? “My orders to my helpers is not to talk badly of anybody. I would like people to vote for me simply because I am better not because I talk bad about others. In my business I have a lot of competition but I don’t badmouth my competitors. I would like people to work with me simply because they prefer to work with me than with other people.”
Candidates are obliged by law not to spend more than Lm600. According to Arrigo candidates have found ways and means to surpass this limit through sponsorships and organising activities paid for by supporters. “We no longer spend money on posters. The party even forbids the distribution of certain material.”
But is there not a risk that candidates who lack the resources end up losing to more resourceful candidates? “Not necessarily. People are not impressed by big events on the eve of the election. They vote for you because they find you whenever they are in need during the full five years.”
Marina Arrigo, Robert’s wife, was recently elected Sliema mayor. Arrigo himself was mayor before he was elected in parliament. Does his wife’s position in the council favour him? “This means that we have a double responsibility. The fact that she is doing her job well reflects well on me. Every one can see the high standards adopted in the construction of Saint Mary Street. Everyone can see the works being conducted in the promenade. She has set the ball rolling in Sliema.”
He also claims that their direct contact with constituents also helps them. Yet will he be using the Sliema council as his new political base? “I do not even enter the council. My wife is fully capable to lead the council on her own merits. She has her own team and I am sure Sliema will see more progress.”
He is also convinced that despite the high level of disgruntlement in the Nationalist Sliema fortress, his party is now in the ascendancy. “At the grassroots level, disgruntlement with the PN reached a peak two years ago. But following this year’s budget, disgruntlement has decreased at least by half. Disgruntlement will even decrease further as people continue to understand what the government is aiming for… the budget was tailor-made for the middle-class.”
Arrigo attributes disgruntlement to the imposition of the hefty surcharge, wardens and the added tax burden on the middle-class but he is confident the government is addressing these problems. He welcomes the fact tat a board has been set up to regulate the fines issued by wardens.
Another cause of disgruntlement in Sliema is growing frustration on cranes, dust and noise, which have turned Sliema in to one big construction site. “When MEPA gives a permit, contractors seem to think they have a free will to destroy the area over which they are given permission to build over. They think they can work on a Sunday or that they can work before 7:00 am. They break pavements and the local council gets blamed for causing this havoc. This is not right.”
Arrigo would like a better management of construction sites. Over the past two decades the face of Sliema has been changed, with many old houses being replaced by blocks of apartments.
“When there is a buyer and a seller and they come in to a contract, nobody can stop it. As mayor, I had people complaining to stop the destruction of some houses but when they got a good price for the house they signed the contract and left.”
But is not Sliema becoming uglier in the process? “It is a pity that old houses fell down. But every house has a history, some owners have died, some have grown older, some can’t cope with the costs of a big house. Some feel that apartments are more convenient.”
Still Arrigo is not convinced that Sliema has become uglier. “I’ve seen Sliema change but I can say that I still like it. I will never leave Sliema.”
Local issues have also cost the PN votes in last March’s Sliema local election. The Qui-Si-Sana project was a case in point. Robert Arrigo was opposed to the project when he was Sliema mayor. Just after the election he was instrumental in organising a meeting between Sliema residents and the Prime Minister to address this issue. “The nature of the application has now changed a lot. If any development ever takes place on this site, it will only consist of an underground car park. The commercial aspect is finished.”
Originally the proponents of the project had proposed a bowling alley, a theatre as well as bars and restaurants prompting residents to fear another Paceville in their backyard. But this has all disappeared from the latest plans. Arrigo would not commit himself on whether he agrees with the car park. “A lot of development is taking place in the Tigné area. I would rather see and weigh what is needed for the area in the light of all this development. At this stage one can’t yet say that the development is needed or not needed. At worst its going to be a car park.”
Shop-owners in the ferries area have expressed fears that the government intends to shift Sliema’s commercial core to the Midi project in Tigné where retail development is planned. Are these fears justified? “This is something that the Prime Minister himself has overruled. The Sliema core will remain the present one. For us Slimizi, the core of Sliema is the ferries. Tigné will only supplement the Sliema core.”
Arrigo’s aesthetic tastes are not in the least offended by the Midi development, which now dominates the skyline of the Marsamxett harbour. “I think that the project is beneficial to the island and it does not in any way disturb me…” For Arrigo, the visual impact is simply the price of progress.
Over the past years there were rumours that MIDI had paid a sum of money to the club presided by Arrigo to absolve them from their obligation to give Sliema Wanderers their ground. But Arrigo, the club’s president, strongly denies that this is the case. “We have a contract with MIDI. The contract states that at the end we will go back to the ground with all the additional facilities included. We would not have moved outside this prime site without expecting this contract to be honoured.”
Yet Arrigo is concerned that MIDI has not kept its deadlines. “We are worried because the project is late. The contract stated that we should move in after 40 months. Now 65 months have already passed. We want to get back to the ground as soon as possible especially because now we have a basketball team and a woman’s football team who also need the facilities.”
Robert Arrigo was the only club president to demand the resignation of Malta Football Association’s President Joe Mifsud despite the outrage in the country after the MFA kept a paedophile working in one of its grounds. Arrigo’s motion demanding Mifsud’s resignation was not even discussed. How come the football world is so cut off from public sentiment?
“One cannot blame Maltese football. It is certain people in the MFA who are cut off. These people think that they are above the law, morally and legally. I believe that what was done was incorrect. It was incorrect that the MFA did not apologise.”
Arrigo is sure that had his motion been discussed, it would have been approved. “But some people did not want this to happen.”
Who were these people? “Certain clubs who by great coincidence, decided on the very day of the AGM to present a motion to prevent my motion from being discussed. The motion was in fact very well concocted with one aim – that of blocking my motion.”
|
