The PM and his cabinet are striving to give an aura of “Action Men”. No, I have not forgotten that there are two women in the Cabinet, but the toys I am referring to (very popular when my son was a kid) depict males.
Although it was meant to be a great era for getting away from gender stereotyping, we never got an Action Woman. Even today we are getting a revival of the greatest action man of that period, Indiana Jones.
But I digress; the government is working hard to put across an image of zealous animation. It is working hard to prove to the electorate that rather than being a tired administration it is a dynamic one.
We are seeing a show of forceful resolve to correct the complaints the electorate voiced before the last election.
Dr Gonzi said he will reform MEPA and has taken on the job personally. We shall be watching closely the developments at, probably, the most criticised authority.
Unfortunately, allowing the Armier ‘boathouses’ to stay was not a good start, not to mention the alleged deals before the election. However, the PM seems to have taken in interest in our architectural heritage and that is a positive move.
But as I mentioned last week, if we are to see an improvement in the way things are done at MEPA, there have to be tangible, radical changes. Not least, on how the DCC holds its public consultations and meetings and the way it runs its business i.e. giving the distinct impression of being an ‘independent republic’. Also the MEPA auditor need not be ‘sheltered’ under the Ombudsman’s umbrella.
And it is not just MEPA Dr Gonzi is saying he will reform.
The government is in upbeat mode, no doubt because of the mess the Labour party is in. It is not resting on its laurels and the PM said the government has started this new legislature with pushing forward “a process of change for our 2015 vision to become a reality.”
He is stressing the importance of good governance, accountability and transparency, saying that these were the government's main aims for this reform process.
Commendable aims and we all look forward to seeing the results.
Last week the PM started the ball rolling with the local councils. "We are putting local councils at the forefront of this initiative”.
This along with MEPA and “a continuation of the reform in rent laws”, he said.
The PM believes that a reform in the way councils operate is important for the final vision to be reached. “It is useless investing millions on low cost carriers if tourists come to our localities and find rundown villages.”
Indeed, and the locals too deserve better. Dr Gonzi said that co-ordination between councils and the government needs to improve to provide a better quality of life that residents deserve.
He said he was not impressed by “the performance of local councils on cleanliness”, saying it leaves a lot to be desired.
He said that if the councils were being let down by contractors and service providers, the latter have to be accountable for their work. He suggested a system of fines for contractors who deliver poor quality service.
An important item in Dr Gonzi’s list includes training for councillors, which he deemed “essential”. Well, if they cannot even work out that service providers should be fined if they do not deliver, they certainly need coaching.
The PM urged the councils to make the best use of the funds they are given and to work with the maxim that “The cheapest is not always the best.”
Although funding has increased from the initial €10 million to €24 million this year, he admitted that the formula used to allocate funds needed to change "because the exigencies of one locality are different from those of another".
This was most visible in the state of Valletta’s pavements when compared to other places and it certainly needs to be considered differently.
But what impressed me most was Dr Gonzi’s plea to councillors to set aside partisan politics and contribute as much as they can to the consultation process.
Easier said than done. It is unfortunate that the idea of independent councillors did not take off. Partisan politics are so deeply ingrained that unless only independent people will be allowed to stand for the council elections, I cannot see that changing.
Independent councillors running the show is what I would see as the only radical change to get the councils away from partisan manoeuvres.
Dr Gonzi emphasised the “environmental dimension”, which ties in with MEPA as well as tourism and the local councils.
Ironically, though while the government wants tourism to grow – and it has a point since it is a major source of income – at a recent seminar on climate change, Martin Scicluna, Chief Executive of the Today Public Policy Institute (TPPI), was quoted: “...in tourism, the action plan calls for an assessment of the question of whether we can any longer sustain over a million visitors a year given the increasing pressure on water and energy resources.”
Of course this is also a valid argument. But the whole issue of who needs to do what on climate change and sustainability is so complex and disparate.
For example, according to figures given at the seminar, the United States of America emits 24 tonnes of CO2 emissions, while the European Union and Japan emit 10 tonnes of CO2 emissions each.
Then of course we have the emerging and burgeoning economies of China and India, who were only responsible for 5 tonnes and 2 tonnes of CO2 emissions respectively so far, that are expected to “also carry their share of the burden”.
Oh right, while the West has been guzzling and living it up sapping the world’s energy, especially America, during which the third world starved, the latter is now, when it is starting to surface from poverty and deprivation, expected to hold back!
Of course we in our tiny pond, need to do our bit too, but we need to keep it all in perspective. Every government looks after its own economy first, the US more than most despite, or perhaps because of, the mess it is in, so it is unlikely that we, that use up miniscule energy by comparison, are going to cut off the hand that feeds us.
But getting back to local councils, the PM believes we need to have “sustainable localities” and he wants to see cleaner and better run towns and villages.
But it will be some time before we see real action. First, we have to wait for the result of a six-month public consultation period. The Parliamentary Secretary for Public Dialogue Chris Said will be conducting the consultation process.
He will be meeting all local councils individually as well as hold meetings with the Local Councils' Association and the Association of Executive Secretaries until November.
A website where people can comment and share views is also planned. That should be very effective because one cannot get to the root of real problems better than through the grass roots.

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