In need of a soul

The summer of 2026 will be remembered as a long hot torrid summer during which one of the most impactful trials ever took place. 

I will refrain from commenting on the Yorgen Fenech jury until it is all over, but like so many others I have much to say. 

Whatever the outcome, the declarations made in court have left many people shocked and seriously perplexed as to how some in the top echelons of the Labour government compromised themselves. 

I am sure there will be many aftershocks after the final sequel of this case plays out in court. Suffice to say that the political landscape today is very much different from that before the general election. And that has only been three months away. 

The aftershocks will be with us for a long time, which explains why holding an election before Fenech’s trial by jury was crucial for Labour, most especially if the party wanted another landslide victory at the polls. 

The aftermath of the jury will rock the political establishment, and mark my words, it will have a profound effect on what happens next within the political parties. 

But as the Valletta courthouse captured attention during the trial, we were also trying to enjoy our summer in the intolerable heat and overcrowded open spaces. Life, somehow, goes on and for those who do not go abroad, the simple alternative for a holiday is visiting Gozo. 

I do not know how many times in the last three of more decades I have lamented and written about Gozo’s plight in this column. But it had been some time since I visited Xlendi and Marsalforn, not to mention villages such as Sannat and the surroundings of Rabat.   

The expanse of development is shocking. Beyond belief. The serene setting of Gozitan villages has been devastated by the folly of cement blocks. I have the impression that the Planning Authority has a clear mission to destroy the skylines of all the villages and to create horrors that are so extreme that nothing can get worse. The PA has only one goal to ensure that speculators continue to enrich themselves at all costs. 

This is not only an exercise in the uglification of Gozo but an attempt to destroy everything authentic on offer. We have raped Gozo (and Malta) in no uncertain ways. 

The political agenda is clear, allow development to take place and bypass the system if there is one. Is there no soul willing to raise a finger to object to all this? 

The need to revisit our planning policy direction must come from the very top. And by the top, I mean the top. But I will not hold my breath since there is no appreciation of the impact this development frenzy is having on communities at the top.

Gozitans and Maltese are so disgusted by what is happening around them that they want to leave and forget what Malta and Gozo look like. There is a feeling of claustrophobia, desperation and suffocation. 

It is Prime Minister Robert Abela who needs to reach out and address this major concern. In the eyes of many people, Abela is seen as too pro-development and not sensitive enough to the impact of massive development on communities. The argument that this is important for the economy does not hold anymore. And this brings me back to the Labour Party.   

It is true that the Labour Party was born with a dismissive attitude towards environmental protection and land use management. For years the PL has suffered from an environmental deficit that was reflected in its poor approach to planning and environmental protection.  But at least in the past there were individuals within the party who cried wolf in the background and made some noise against the party’s establishment.

They talked about the unsustainability of subsidising energy for all, about not having means testing, about providing free things for everyone irrespective of their income, about capping tourist arrivals, about thinking of quality not quantity and about a radical change in mindset on economic growth. And more importantly of putting the family and the salaried workers at the centre of the debate and not the businessperson. Today, these voices have been crushed or hushed. The Labour Party is crying for some altruistic, left-wing idealism from some of its members. 

The Labour Party may have won the election in June, but voters who feel the government has no desire to make changes are far too many to be ignored. 

We urgently need to talk of a sustainability index not simply a well-being index. We need to address the fact that as a small island state, Malta has serious physical limitations. We are facing breaking point when it comes to energy, infrastructure, water and sewage systems. These challenges will only be made worse with the climate change, and yet no one, it seems, is doing anything about it. 

The Labour Party conferences have also become a sorry sight, with little discussion and no provocation or challenges to the status quo. They are just rubber-stamping exercises. No new ideas about how the economy needs to be re-tuned are forthcoming. 

Are there any souls for hire?