It can be taken for granted that any major government contract which is made open to competitive tender between private sector companies will end up under attack from companies which have not been chosen when the “final” decision is taken… Protests will continue all the way to the courts. As a result, the implementation of needed projects is retarded, sometimes in a very significant maner.
It is not an agreeable situation. But any step taken by which to simplify the procedures surrounding complaints and to arrange for the speedy resolution of the challenges that arise will be criticised as support for abuses of power and as an attempt to cover corruption.
Evidently, a regular outcome of all this has been that infrastructural investments, some of which are quite critical, get delayed. It isn’t really relevant to mention how similar scenarios occur in other European countries – that can serve as no consolation. The struggle against abuses of power and corruption is essential but it should not be allowed to paralyse public management.
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THE NATIONAL IDENTITY
Arguments have resurfaced recently about how artistic and cultural endeavours in the country also serve to strengthen the national identity. They are on the ball, opportune and should be put forward more and more emphatically. Too often, the arts and culture sector is simply considered as a space earmarked for arty-crafty amateurs and hobbyists.
One reason for this is that the sector’s economic foundations in a small society like ours are unavoidably quite shallow. In the main, artists in all areas are either having to self-finance their own productions, or accepting payment that does not reflect the magnitude of their commitment, or they have to find employment with some government entity.
It is not possible to avoid the problems caused by scale economies. Regardless of that problem however, the reality is that at a time when many people are asking about how, in future, Maltese society is going to be defined, artistic production and cultural initiatives remain the best tools by which to declare, renew, and give life to, the national identity.
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HOW WILL IT BE IMPACTED?
It seems like we’re reverting to the old days of imperialism, but this time really extended to a global level and operated out of diverse (at least three) centres. Given the geographic situation we’re placed in, the question that arises for us in Malta is: How will the Mediterranean region be impacted?
We had become accustomed to consider the Mediterranean as a historical “lake” that had lost much of its former strategic importance even if it still opened the way to the African continent. Technological advances have given the great powers the possibility to act militarily from a distance, without the need for a physical presence close to the theatres where they wish to expand their influence. Still, a principle remains valid: do not allow others to achieve physical control even over territories where you have no reason to enter. In this perspective, the Mediterranean region covers a number of territories which will tempt the “empires” – Gibraltar; Libya/Malta/Sicily; Alexandria and the Suez canal; Lebanon.
In the emerging “new” order of today, it is likely that the diplomatic and military calculus of past centuries will become fashionable again.