The anything goes island

It did not take us long to get there. It’s a long and slippery slope and once you start sliding it’s very difficult to stop. Besides, the phenomenon has a remarkably attractive power and once people see they would be better off doing it, they loosen all restraint and start doing it themselves. We cannot say that petty corruption in Malta began when people saw the group at Castille openly opening accounts in disreputable locations. A certain amount of illegal activity has always been around. But there is a hell of a difference between small-scale illegal activity that is frowned upon and checked by the authorities and a situation where one suspects the authorities are complicit with illegal activities.

There is a very thin line between turning a blind eye and being actively complicit in illegality. Sometimes, the lines get blurred and people are quite quick at getting the nod and the wink. The above does not fully explain what has been happening in Malta both before

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the election and increasingly after. The present government was elected to liberalise a number of areas where the preceding administration was somewhat tight-fisted. Things like development permits come to mind. After all, why should Mr X get a permit while I don’t? This, as we all know, has unleashed a storm of development permits that have turned our island into one big development zone, with cranes everywhere, dust, excavation, disturbance and, above all, such a huge amount of new properties that one honestly cannot see how they can all be sold.

It is a bubble that is slowly but surely gathering strength and which has only one outcome. There are already an awful lot of empty properties in Malta. Rents have gone up far more than they should have and ordinary Maltese are finding it difficult to rent at affordable prices. The new apartments that are being built aim to cater to the upper reaches of the market, perhaps to satisfy the incoming gaming and financial services employees. But the prices that are quoted are far above what ordinary Maltese can afford. There’s more. Every small corner bar now has tables and chairs outside, sometimes in very awkward places, blocking the sidewalk, impeding parents with prams and people on wheelchairs from walking safely. And yet, as our sister Sunday paper reported yesterday, the owners are then unable to pay the wages that Maltese can afford, with the result that you will probably find only foreigners serving clients, with all the difficulties that language barriers, lack of proper training and flimsy supervision entail.

Now if someone starts enforcing the law, we will have massive problems. At the same time, we cannot not enforce the law as this situation described above is breaking down all notions of law and order.

We have enjoyed the ride so far, riding on the back of the tiger. It will only be when the tiger turns back and lunges at us that we realize, too late unfortunately, how wrong we were.