Well, is anyone surprised at the savagery of Maltese bus drivers?
In the Dom Mintoff days, the one sector that could not be tamed, let alone trounced, was the Maltese bus drivers and owners.
At one point, an army truck, which was called in to offer a public bus service, was shot at when passing through the Gudja airport tunnel. That was in the days of Mintoff, when babies were eaten instead of cornflakes, and the tortured and non-profit making businessmen had such hard times, they only built grandiose villas at Madliena, Victoria cottage or the Santa Marija estate.
The burly, ill-dressed men who run Maltese buses with little or no concern for their passengers, whether Maltese or foreign, not only think that they are untouchables but that they can decide who should be on their side or not.
In former days, the bus drivers’ fury would be interpreted as a reflection of Mintoffian arrogance, but really and truly the mixed group of Nationalist and Labourite drivers are a product of Maltese society with their contradictions of family first, ‘my patch’ second, and ‘don’t you dare tell me what to do’ an uncomfortable third. The same Brady bunch can be applied to the hunters, the fishermen, the farmers... in a word, the whole bloody Maltese populace.
We are what we are: Latin, Christian and short-tempered.
The bus drivers and the rest of the monopolies are the problems that should have been tackled in 1987, not in 2008. And it had to be Austin Gatt to finally confront the ugly bastards.
That this has not been tackled before can only be blamed on the fact that many of Gatt’s antecedents did not have the gall and the balls to face the music. And when I talk of predecessors I mean all the transport ministers, including Censu Galea, Michael Frendo and Jesmond Mugliett, and of course the captains who ran the show: Eddie Fenech Adami and Lawrence Gonzi.
If Gatt is tackling the issue, it is not because of some Gonzi-driven blueprint. Probably Gonzi was hoping for some tranquil summer recess. If something gets done it has to do with Gatt’s unique habit of not sleeping over problems.
Gatt is not motivated by political ideology. If he were he would be a poseur but like the only other worthy politician in the cabinet, John Dalli, he knows that when a problem needs solving, it has to be solved.
The former minister for transport, Jesmond Mugliett, not only did not understand the problem, but more significantly did not have a clue of how to get things done.
The Austin Gatts and John Dallis of this world are not the pretty boys, but then as the cute Italian saying goes: they surely do not fall into category of ‘più brillantina che cervello’.
The fact that the Nationalist administration chose to do nothing for 20 friggin’ years in the public transport sector has more to do with the fact that there were more uncomplicated targets to confront, and easier ones to score political points with. The dockyard is a case in point.
Now that the bus transport controversy has returned to haunt us with a vengeance, what is needed is major surgery to thrash out this major problem once and for all.
Austin Gatt knows that he has the public’s backing and if he really wants to be remembered, he should go all the way and rout these savages and replace them with a public transport service worthy of a modern society. The one thing that cannot be tolerated is a soft approach to the brusqueness and violence from these Maltese Latin troglodytes.
Our society has no place for these overweight fanatics who cannot be talked to, who adorn their buses with their Christian/pagan representations, and who should long have been relegated to the history books.
Suggestion box
Political decisions seem to have a lot to do with destiny. So if John Dalli happens to overstep his political remit and suggest that the divorce should be seen to – the Prime Minister decides, when faced with a question, to decide... and yes, there will be a debate on divorce.
So far, so good. But what was the whole point of avoiding the issue in the pre-electoral fever of March 8?
Obviously, divorce then was a dirty word. Now that Joseph Muscat has declared that he is for divorce, someone comes up with the idea of discussing divorce.
Discussing something is one thing, implementing it something altogether different.
And if my memory does not fail me, the 353 proposals outlined by government did not include this suggestion, consideration or pensiero.
I am convinced that this is what makes Gonzi such a wonderful successful politician. He can adapt himself to a situation because he has the ability to bluff and respond to a query by giving the impression that he has been thinking about the matter for ages.
Bet my sweet ass, that the next time the Cabinet meets to discuss divorce it will be sometime in 2010 and the next time anything will concretely get off the ground will be never. Yes, never.
Now, probably readers are asking, but why am I questioning the declared intention of holding a debate on divorce?
And the reason is because if politics is going to be based on the whims of what is said in an interview and not on the political, hand-on-heart declaration of a political party, supposedly basing itself on some austere political ideology, then really and truly we should stop taking electoral declarations seriously.
And rest assured that the last thing Gonzi will ever do in his lifetime is to introduce a bill that would allow for divorce.
Wasted space
George Pullicino is not only absent from the political scene but surely he has also lost any sense of sight and smell.
This week Maghtab, the infamous mountain of debris, was on fire again and the residents of Naxxar, San Gwann and Madliena were allowed a night-long aroma of burning waste.
Pullicino, who as we have learnt has been robbed of his Environment portfolio and reduced to a Minister for Waste, will undoubtedly blame Maghtab on what happened before 1987. 1987 being the year the sun rose, and the Nationalists replaced the Labourites. Needless to add, the waste that was dumped at Maghtab before it was closed in those 17 years of Nationalist paradise should not be taken into consideration.
The only waste that stinks when burnt is the one that is produced by non-Nationalists.
Moratorium
Which obviously brings me to my French friends who have left the islands, and concluded that Malta is one big construction site. And that the best thing that could happen to Malta is a moratorium on building.
Now that is wonderful idea. How about it?
Next time a journalist bumps into Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi at Bastille day in France, could he be so kind to ask him a very pertinent question: “Would the dear Prime Minister kindly consider the suggestion of some unknown French tourists that Malta should implement a moratorium on buildings and construction?”
To which the very intelligent and not at all superficial Prime Minister will reply: “Of course, we will discuss this in a Cabinet meeting and I assure you I will give it my full attention.”
Zut!!!
Next Sunday: Saviour Balzan visits a Sicilian hospital and...
