Cabinet wake up - the red warning lights are flashing – the alarm bells are clanging – is the Govern
For a Government that rightly prides itself in having kept its ear to the ground over the last six years as to the needs and deeds of the people of the Maltese Islands, the Government seems to have developed a substantial blindness and deafness to a situational problem which is threatening to overturn the boat of complacency.
Let me digress a little. I am NOT xenophobic; I am NOT racist; I do NOT live in cloud cuckoo land wanting to get back to the days of Wenzu w Rozi on the theme of “the good old days”.
I was brought up and went to school in England; my brother and I attended schools in which out of a thousand children we were the only Maltese; as my father was in the British RAF we lived on an RAF camp where out of 1,000 families, we were the only Maltese.
At one time we lived in the Lincolnshire village of Market Rasen and were the only Maltese family in the whole village and for miles around, I was the only Maltese boy at my school and my brother was the only Maltese boy at his school.
As a youth I went to school and lived in Brixton, London, then the most interracial area in the whole of Britain – with all its consequent problems.
In Malta I worked with a company that had interests in Libya and frequently visited Tripoli and Benghazi; I worked with a Chinese-run company for six years, shoulder-to-shoulder with Chinese professionals and technicians; I also lived in Australia and later I worked for 25 years at STMicroelectronics with its Franco-Italian influences.
Two weeks ago one of my English lifetime friends whom I had known for 60 years sadly passed away. He lived in an area which has remained essentially English (i.e. British) but a year ago after a visit to London he emailed me and stated “visiting London, I realise I have become a stranger in my own country”.
The words remained embedded in my mind, mainly because I had and have become a stranger where I live in Qawra/Bugibba. Many, many thousands of compatriot citizens are experiencing much the same feelings around Malta and Gozo. Virtually every voice I hear from the street below my apartment (day and night) speaks a foreign language. In my street there is a Chinese massage parlour (genuine massage!), a Bulgarian motor technician, recently a Russian beauty treatment parlour and apartments full of foreigners.
How many Maltese bars and restaurants are there today in Qawra/Bugibba? How many Maltese do they employ? Is the bulk of their clientele Maltese?
I understand the need to bring in foreign AI, IT and technological professionals, experts and technicians to keep us moving forward; I understand the health system requires likewise, as well as manufacturing, construction and many other sectors.
BUT, as everything else in life, there is a point where enough is enough.
The recent open and detention centre riots have brought matters to a head. Why are we accepting more immigrants when these are obviously NOT refugees but fit and well-fed young men NOT fleeing war situations and all equipped with mobiles and Ipads?
Why are NGO so-called rescue boats (a cover-up for money-making and human trafficking) still permitted to enter Maltese waters when these should be banned and if they transgress the boat confiscated and captain and crew arrested?
Why are we still falling for the trick that a boatload of 80 young men has one or two women (preferably pregnant) and two or three children planted on them? Why are these not being towed back to Libyan territorial waters and left there?
As for Schengen – a whole farce. One just flashes an EU passport and strolls into the country unimpeded. Are appropriate checks being carried out? If yes, why do so many criminals filter through? What about non-Schengen countries like Russia, Nepal and many others – why such an invasion?
Yes, the Cabinet has to wake up. The red warning lights are flashing and the alarm bells are clanging.
Is the Government seeing them and hearing them?
If the Government DOES have its ear to the ground it will hear the drum beating and the beat is saying that at least 85% of the population of Malta and Gozo are DEEPLY concerned with the current status quo.
I sincerely hope and pray that complacency has not taken the place of commonsense and we do not have an ostrich burying its head in the sand – not seeing and not hearing. In the history of politics and governance that has been the death-knell of many a Government.
ALBERT FENECH
