Lack of planning

In an interview he gave to The Malta Independent on Sunday, the president of the Chamber of SMEs lamented that Malta was not prepared for the changes that took place in the last decade, and it is therefore now suffering the consequences of this lack of planning.

The fact that Malta experienced a rapid economic growth without there being a plan in place made things difficult in the past years, Paul Abela said in the interview.

He is right.

First of all, there has been a fast population expansion, a staggering rise from the 425,000 who resided here in 2013 to the nearly 550,000 people who now say Malta is their home.

The infrastructure was not ready. And we’re not just talking about roads, sewage and accommodation. We’re also talking about regulations in place to deal with the influx of foreigners who were attracted to come over to Malta.

It is only now, for example, that the Prime Minister is speaking about how temping agencies are to be regulated.

It is only now, for example again, that we are talking about a skills card that will be needed for workers seeking jobs in the catering and tourism industry.

Now that the horse has bolted, we’re trying to close the stable.

In the meantime, we have allowed a situation that continues to deteriorate, all this thanks to the idea to expand our economy via population growth.

The Labour government has been told, time and time again, that this was not the way forward. It was warned that the system was not sustainable. Yet it denied the notion that the economy was being expanded via population growth and, as we all know, the first step to tackle a problem is by acknowledging it. The fact that Labour was denying that this was happening prevented it from taking measures to tackle the issue.

Now, finally, it seems that the government has taken note of what constituted bodies and the media have been saying for many years. But it may be already too late.

There is another thing that needs to be seen to – and this is the fact that most of the foreigners who come over to Malta and find a job here do not speak Maltese and can barely speak English. Many of them make the effort to improve their communications skills, but there are others who ignore the issue, making little or no effort to integrate themselves in society.

It is good to note that proficiency in English is a requirement for new applicants, but we would expand on that and make it a requirement for them to follow courses in the Maltese language if they are to be given a permit to work here.

“We need to start planning ahead,” Abela said in the interview.

Wise words the government ought to heed.