Political dishonesty at Zonqor point

How should have an honest government, whose sole interest was of attracting a reputable university to open a branch in Malta, acted when it came to planning and procurement rules?

Surely it would not have handed over public land on a silver plate to one particular company chosen in the absence of any public procedure.

It would have first chosen the land earmarked for any such project irrespective of the bidder, using clear planning criteria that limits the choice to land pockets which are either outside development zones or which are already build up. 

It would have assessed other impacts like traffic, the need of new roads and the ideal number of students which can be sustainably accommodated in Malta.

In the same way that MEPA recently  approved a policy regulating petrol pumps, it would have issued a policy setting the parameters for Malta to become an educational hub.

After identifying the land, it would have issued a public call for expression of interest for any reputable university interested in building a campus in Malta.

This may well have attracted more reputable universities than a construction company, which will be effectively creating a brand new university.  Instead we have ended up with another project instead of policy-driven investment.

I recall Environment Minister Leo Brincat in Opposition rightly criticising the PN’s energy policies as being “project-driven”. He rightly criticised the former government for having its energy policy approved on the eve of the 2013 general election and for changing a legal notice to accommodate BWSC. I also recall Evarist Bartolo being a beacon of transparency in the whole power station saga.

Now it is his government which is amending legal notices to lower standards required by universities to operate in Malta. Now it is they who are party to the most project-driven government initiative in contemporary Maltese history. By even considering handing part of an approved natural park to a private construction company, we truly have reached a new level of political dishonesty.

It is incomprehensible that a socialist government would ‘attack’ a public university providing free education to its citizens, simply to accommodate a private entity which will provide exclusive education to rich clients.

To sell this project to the public, the government also resorted to dishonest populist statements lambasting the University of Malta as a presumed monopoly, when everyone knows that there is no law limiting foreign universities from opening branches in Malta. 

What is incomprehensible is how an allegedly socialist government can attack a public university that provides free education to its citizens, simply to accommodate a private entity which will provide exclusive education to rich clients.

I am not against this sort of investment in private educational facilities. But I recoil at propaganda which depicts this investment as some sort of new, essential service whose beneifts will trickle down the adoring public.

The government may find it convenient to silence any legitimate criticism by referring to what was done by the PN when in office.

It should tread carefully. Firstly, it’s insulting to the thousands who voted for Labour so that it would behave differently than the PN. Secondly, the movement against ODZ development is something which has grown organically in Maltese society and includes courageous Labour exponents like the deputy mayor of Marsaskala Desiree Attard and Labour MP Marlene Farrugia.

Such logic ignores the fact that Maltese society has changed, that it is more environmentally conscious than ever before. By jumping on the bandwagon the PN is responding to this wave in the same way Joseph Muscat jumped on the liberal bandwagon after the divorce referendum. Thanks to Muscat’s foresight, Malta now has the most progressive legislation on LBGTI issues. By doing so the PN needs to come in terms with its recent history. It has set a yardstick through which we can measure its behaviour in the future. This is a positive process.  

Now that he country has lost too much of its ODZ land under the previous government, makes it more imperative to preserve the little we have left. To do so we do not need more “balance” between environment and construction but an imbalance in favour of the environment!

The worst deceit so far was the way the government attempted to greenwash the project by promising a national park a few metres away. In reality it was taking away a part of the natural park as approved in 2006 local plans, to hand it to developers on a silver plate.

Only by excluding Zonqor from any development can the government reclaim the high moral ground it has definitely lost.