All that's wrong

The Times of Malta

All that`s wrong!

The Kalaxlokk affair and the incidents that triggered downing` of` tools by shipyard workers who marched` into the capital city last week, symbolises all that is wrong with our country. The result of near twenty years of political instability and/or weak leadership.

Kalaxlokk is relatively a new vintage problem. Compared to the Shipyards and Freeport problems, two main beneficiaries of government handouts, the Kalaxlokk problem is relatively modest. In comparison with the cost of over-manning of the public sector the Kalaxlokk problem is miniscule.

Yet these much bigger problems remain neglected. I remember that in 1985 the incoming Prime Minister Dr Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici had requested me to investigate why Malta Drydocks` demand for subsidies, modest by current demands, was growing and becoming more insistent. Malta Drydocks had last made a profit in 1981 was it was then in its 4th consecutive year of losses.

I reported immediately that Drydocks needed surgery and a total re-organisation in the way it conducted its business. Failing that the State should prepare a fat cheque book to finance Drydocks existence` in its then current state.` Fifteen years later the losses grew bigger and many State cheque books have been used to write subsidy cheques.

With an election in the offing 1985` was not the opportune time to conduct such surgery which could not be painless.` The present government however has been running the country for thirteen years two months bar a small interlude of twenty two months. It is tangible proof of the incompetence of our leaders that the Drydocks and Malta Shipbuilding problems have been allowed to fester during the whole` course of thirteen years. Not only that but we created two new problems. One at Freeport which last year swallowed no less than US$22 million from government subsidies. The other problem` is` Kalaxlokk which again is asking for more.

I cannot help feeling that government willingly keeps these problems ticking because they serve its political objectives well even if this is done at the expense of the national economy. Nothing else can explain the persistence of these problems for thirteen years. Thirteen years is an overlong time.` Thirteen years ago Microsoft, Cisco and Vodafone, three of the largest international companies, either did not exist or where little more than incubation companies.

During these thirteen years a horrendous amount of millions of liri have been burnt up without addressing the problems. If these same millions were invested to create new sustainable jobs those employees who last week` had to march in dirty boiler suits would have been quietly at their work place in clean white overall operating a robot or a cnc machine proud to be part of a successful exporting organisation and enjoying wages far higher than the ones they are currently getting, often with delay.

Politically these unresolved expensive problems suit the government spin doctors fine. Whenever the government political agenda is under attack they could easily whip up some instability which works wonders as a diversionary tactic.

The GWU obliges` the government spin doctors strategy with splendid obedience. A few thousand of yellow hard helmets walking into the city make wonders to shift the political agenda. It delivers the message that for all the Government`s failings the present is still better than the rampage and instability which ruled during Labour`s last full term in the eighties.

Not just that! Such incidents which are perfectly orchestrated help to make Labour continue to suffer` loss of identity. Labour new image alienates the hardliners whilst the GWU organised street shows alienate the moderates.

This is nothing short of a double dividend to the party in government which helps to extend its term of office but at a very high cost to the national economy.

National interest demands otherwise. National interest demands that the country cannot sustain the high cost of subsidising the shipyards, the Freeport , Kalaxlokk and others.` We cannot continue burning hard earned tax money by carrying indefinitely an overblown public sector.

On the other hand these problems cannot be resolved by confrontation. They can be resolved by a three stage approach; firstly identification and quantification of the problems, secondly by explaining the consequences of allowing` the problems to fester, and lastly by agreeing an action programme which whilst not painless spreads the burden equitably in a show of solidarity` even on those not directly affected by these problems.

Such a sensible approach to problem resolution demands leadership which is sadly missing. On the contrary we get from our leaders easy election promises which send a clear message that one does not need to give an honest day`s work to earn a decent day`s wage.

Such problems fit the government` spin doctors fine. They are however a bullet in the head for the national economy. Our tax money is not meant to meet spin doctor agenda but to stimulate economic growth for us and for future generations. We have to wake up before it is too late.