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It was with bemused surprise that I read yesterday’s ‘The Times’ leading article. All customary aplomb had been cast to the winds: Harry Vassallo this, Harry Vassallo that, “irresponsible”, “unacceptable.” It was The Times and it was the leading article. I could hardly believe it.
Unlike many readers, I am aware that not all leading articles in leading newspapers are written by their registered editors. It never crossed my mind that this nonsense could have been written by Ray Bugeja, the current editor of The Times.
The fury erupted because I gave a comment to a Times journalist on leaving the MEPA board sitting that ended the 11 year Verdala golf course saga with a landslide victory for the opponents of the project. Only diabolical persistence could drive the developer to appeal from a 12 – 0 vote by the Board preceded by two recommendations for refusal by the MEPA Planning Directorate.
While expressing my satisfaction at the decision I had the temerity to repeat what I have said many times these past 11 years that golf is a cracked idea in a country that is obliged to create half its drinking water at the expense of 10-20 percent of it energy generation capacity. I was reported to have said that “Malta could never sustain a golf course which soaked up so much water and electricity.” It was a fair paraphrase by Herman Grech who had to prepare his report taking quotes from a number of parties.
Why was the Times leader so far off the handle? I had said nothing new. I re-read the article and an awful suspicion began to dawn on me. This was certainly not Ray Bugeja’s pen. Nor could I imagine anyone else at The Times with an editorial responsibility who would spurt vitriol to such an extent for such little cause from such a vantage point.
This was not about golf. It was not about Harry Vassallo’s opposition to the insanity. It brought to mind the recent spate of snide remarks in a section of the press aimed at discrediting anybody even faintly Green. It is throwback to the time before the environment became mainstream when traditional politicians spent their time laughing at every commonsense proposal made and which they now claim as their own because of EU requirements.
“Irresponsible” and “unacceptable” rang a bell. It recalled a number of articles by a pseudo independent columnist no longer associated with The Times in which I am frequently misquoted. It appears that I have achieved the same priority in her hit list as does Dr Alfred Sant. Ever since we defeated the PN on the abortion smear campaign and won a resounding victory in the EP elections we have become a fixed target, her latest fixation.
In recent days the MEPA website provided the public with the first ever quasi-quantification of the astounding gains to be made for Malta’s tourism through golf. For the past eleven years we have had repeated at us ad nauseam that golf is Maltese tourism’s saving grace. Nobody ever bothered to back up the statement. Nobody, not even the developer’s well paid PRO. If they had such a good case why did they not make it in numbers long ago?
The MEPA website shows that the project is commercially viable because the golf course product will be sold out. Its maximum capacity is 38,000 rounds of golf. Of these 25,000 will be taken up by resident golfers once the place is in full swing. The remaining 13,000 will have to be shared by members of the existing tourist influx. A very approximate estimate shows that 10,000 of the current British tourist inflow would be drawn to the Verdala greens. Assuming excellent golfing weather for all eternity to achieve maximum capacity, there would hardly be anything left to spare for the hordes of additional tourists who presumably will be attracted to Malta on the basis of our spanking new golf course.
At a very generous estimate I very unprofessionally assume that 2000 or so new tourists will find a slot on the golf course. They will have neither the time nor the space to play more than one round each. Thankfully we have it on the authority of none other than the Minister of Tourism that such tourists spend twice as much as other tourists. Let’s assume that we have 4000 more of the tourists whose company we have enjoyed so far.
Is this the niche that I so irresponsibly and unacceptably want to deny my country’s economy? It could so easily be substituted by equally generous culture tourists who have yet to discover the unique concentration of cultural heritage compressed with our small country. If only we had spent the money and effort absorbed by the golf course saga in developing this niche.
The vitriolic attack is so nonsensical that it simply cannot be about golf. And Ray Bugeja has no political or commercial axe to grind. My suspicions have settled on Mrs Daphne Caruana Galizia. I hope not unfairly. They are nothing more than suspicions and I would be more than glad to have them allayed by a vociferous denial by The Times or by Mrs Caruana Galizia herself.
The implications of course are horrendous. The credibility of The Times is at stake. Who has engineered Ray Bugeja’s humiliation to such an extent? Who has the power to ask him to submit to such abuse? At the hands of Mrs Caruana Galizia who cost him his job at The Independent while preserving her own in Malta’s greatest humiliation of journalistic freedom so far? If Mrs Caruana Galizia did pen the article, why did she not sign her name? Because her role as the developer’s PRO would have made her ethical standards as a journalist flutter in the wind? What does such a possible scenario make of The Times’ cherished prestige as the country senior, if sedate daily publication?
It is a matter which should be looked into by the Press Club if it is to retain any semblance of self-respect. The Fourth Estate appears to have succumbed without a fight. Perhaps The Times should resolve to have its leading articles signed by their authors from now on. It is now seventeen years since a change in government should have made noms de plume an anachronism.
Ironically the last time I failed to ignore Mrs Caruana Galizia’s attacks she had the gall to spout outraged propriety from every pore. Politicians such as I should never stoop to contradict a journalist engaged in her sacred mission. If it is Mrs Caruana Galizia who hid behind the traditional anonymity of The Times leader, so much for her outraged ethics.
I don’t like suspicions. I do want to know. Anybody with an interest in preserving what remains of journalistic freedom in Malta should also be curious. Not least because, if my suspicions are confirmed, this vitriolic defence of the golf insanity has been committed by none other than the paid consultant of the developer whose reputation as a PR fixer is based on her familiar association with those who have governed this country for the past 17 years without ever having had the need or the inclination to stand for election. I weep for The Times already.
It is a matter of intuition, a well-founded suspicion based on experience and background knowledge, something I would normally refuse to put into print. It could gain further strength if Mrs Caruana Galizia’s article in today’s Independent on Sunday bears the same messy fingerprints.
harry.vassallo@alternattiva.org.mt
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