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Having returned from the Malta International Airport to Düsseldorf airport in Germany, we spent most of the time on board reading MaltaToday, especially the articles named ‘Manholes prove to be road hazards;’ ‘Energy costs rise… renewable energy sources;’ and ‘Putting Malta on the map,’ (all MaltaToday 3 October).
In ‘Manholes prove to be road hazards’ it is stated that Malta is certainly not the best example of a banana republic. We visited Malta as tourists for the first time and only for one week. We tried to live and enjoy the tourist life, but we also had a look at the daily life, politics, economy, culture and we absolutely can’t agree that the country has anything to do with a so-called banana-republic.
Despite some problems named by journalist Julian Manduca, you should reflect on Germany which is a place of much vandalism including paint spraying on walls, noise and disturbance; a country with a high number of all sorts of crimes, especially attacks and house burglary; a country with a large number of unemployed persons (about 11 per cent). These are all facts and we have not heard of similar experiences in Malta.
We found Malta has a good infrastructural base with lots of possibilities to decrease its problems of energy and the mountains of rubbish.
It is stated in ‘Energy costs rise… renewable energy sources’ that it will be years before Malta can hope to see a portion of its energy generated by renewable sources including wind, sea and sun. Indeed the possibilities of using wind and sun energy (photovoltaics) is the most expensive. But there are cheaper yet nevertheless very effective ‘machines’ including solar collectors with panels for domestic and commercial premises. For domestic premises there will be a saving of 30 to 40 per cent of all energy costs. In Malta the great advantage is that the panels are ‘working’ on more than 300 days at full power.
We don’t know the amount of rainfall you have per year. It seems that when it rains masses of water fill the streets (Manholes prove to be road hazards). So a second step could be to use the whole surface of the flat roofs to install water-tanks for toilets and perhaps washing-machines.
We don’t know if it would be lucrative to separate Malta’s rubbish into different fractions including paper, plastic, glass, compostible rubbish so as to reuse or recycle? Switzerland was the very first country to do it… with great success.
Malta is not a banana republic; we appreciate it very much and it does not need to be put on the map, it is on the map and in our mind!
So best wishes for the future!
Jurgen and Michele Baucke
Aachen, Germany
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