Not exactly N.I.M.B.Y.

Losing your land and your home is no laughing matter. So the angry outburst of farmers and residents at Maghtab yesterday was more than justifiable.

What has happened to them is a direct result of the legacy of our vocation in procrastinating and in not addressing the long-term waste problem: our failure to understand the limitations of our size as a country and the immense waste problem we will have on our hands in the next 25 years.

Let us all agree that farmers should not lose their land and that we should do everything to defend their rights.

Yet on the other hand we need to appreciate that we have become more consumer-driven and we produce more waste than ever before. If nothing is done, we will have nowhere to dump, recycle or even burn our waste.

It is so easy for all of us to wake up in the morning, open the front door, take out the black bag and return to a warm cup of coffee. It gets collected and we pay nothing for the service. We take it all for granted.

We don’t only have a mixed-waste service, but an organic and a recyclable waste service.

No commune, community or province in mainland Europe offers such a service free of charge. Here we do. This is Malta… socialist as it has always been.

Consecutive governments have reneged on their responsibility but to be fair to this administration, they did kick-start a process to address the future of waste, attempting also to encourage recycling and with some notable success.

Yet an island of half a million with two million visitors a year and an expansive economic drive, and possibly more growth to come, produces more waste than it can handle.

Magħtab, on the road to the tourist hub of Malta and along what used to be a wonderful shoreline (Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq), was chosen years back to be the location for landfills. So were Bubaqra, Luqa and off Xagħra in Gozo.

I don’t think that Delia really cares, he is not only delusional but he couldn’t give a hoot if his party disintegrates into nothingness and this country is ruled by one political party

Magħtab remained the only landfill in operation after the others were closed down. Around Magħtab we also find a motley collection of ugly and badly kept farms, but also some outstanding rural properties and horse-riding clubs. It is a rather unsightly mess.

The proverbial s*** has now hit the fan. We have now come to the crossroads and decisions need to be taken or rather be implemented.

So, I was rather surprised that soon after the MaltaToday stream of the ugly protests of farmers at Magħtab, Prime Minister Robert Abela raced down to the site to hear the farmers and declare that he would listen to their demands.

Very well. But what is the solution?

Both the farmers and their lawyers know that the project must go ahead, if not at Magħtab, somewhere else. So what shall it be?

The only way to avoid expropriating 50,000sq.m of land to install an additional landfill, a waste separation plant and an incinerator is to overnight impose some draconian green revolution. This is not only impossible but something that will never happen.

This country needs to take decisions, and I have a very funny but real feeling that we are living a new political era where the big decisions are avoided and not taken.

***

Marthese Portelli came across as someone who had – how shall I put it? – some grey matter and knew what she was talking about. She was, in fact, always prepared and well-versed when faced with a discussion or debate.

I knew that she was not happy with the way things were developing in the PN at the very top. And she had hoped for a change. It did not happen because no one had the spine to come forward and confront Delia.

Faced with a choice between the hopelessness of the situation and her career, she opted for the latter, knowing all too well that at 43 she is at her prime.

Her departure will now open the way, possibly, to 6PM chief executive officer Ivan Bartolo (not the Mosta MP), who has never camouflaged his political ambition to look at the very top of the pyramid.

I have yet to understand what he stands for. I only recall his Facebook comments when he decided to retire from politics, only to see him return soon after in a move to get rid of Delia.

He will be probably be accompanied by another new face in parliament. I am referring to the PN radio station’s former radio bruiser David Thake, who, to be fair, is someone who would be better suited for Striscia la Notizia than for a seat in the House of Representatives. But then again, our representatives are a reflection of the society we live in.

In spite of all these new faces who would rather see Adrian Delia resigning than staying on, it is clear that Delia will not go. He is here to stay.

And as Simon Busuttil aptly put it when he lambasted Joseph Muscat in the 2017 campaign, it is very much a case of “gass down gol-ħajt”.

But I don’t think that Delia really cares, he is not only delusional but he couldn’t give a hoot if his party disintegrates into nothingness and this country is ruled by one political party.