Caludine Cassar | Sunday, 14 June 2009

PRINT THIS ARTICLE

It’s the recession, not immigration, that costs us jobs

The election hoopla is over at last, and the results are out after an excruciating couple of days. The politicians will probably sit back and have a good rest – however the rest of us are left to deal with the toxic waste generated by the electoral campaign.
Over the last few weeks we have been bombarded with conflicting messages regarding the state of the nation. However one thing that almost everyone agreed upon was that the irregular immigration situation is a crisis – this became a focal message that was drummed into us in debate after debate.
It is clear that the two main parties decided to join Azzjoni Nazzjonali and Imperium Europa’s bandwagon. Political expediency led to candidates coming up with a number of ridiculous suggestions, ranging from towing the immigrants out to sea and sending them on their way, to calling on Europe to impose tough actions against Libya. They also made it a point to express concern about the fact that these irregular arrivals could be criminals or carry diseases, and that their culture and religion is different to ours, citing extreme examples such as female genital mutilation.
I was saddened by this turn of events. Politicians are supposedly our leaders – but in this case all they did was follow each other like sheep bleating the same opportunistic tune.
It was inevitable that all these messages would contribute to the xenophobia that has been steadily gaining ground in the country. This became apparent as soon as the results were in, with Norman Lowell, a candidate who has been convicted on charges of inciting racial hatred, polling a total of 3,559 first count votes. Support for this far right individual and his Imperium Europa party has more than doubled in the last five years. It is likely that people who voted for him wanted to send a message – one that has arrived loud and clear.
Then a few days ago we heard some shocking news. Just one week before the elections, in the middle of the political ranting and raving about the ‘invasion’ of Africans, an immigrant was punched and kicked in Paceville. The man ended up with a fractured skull, an injury so severe that he died a short while later in hospital. This man had made his way to Malta from Sudan, a country that is ranked as the second most politically unstable country in the world according to the Failed States Index, presumably to improve his lot in life. Instead he ended up in Malta and ultimately ended up the victim of violence.
The politicians who have been fanning the flames of racial hatred over the last few weeks have a lot to answer for.

The R word
One thing that I found astounding during this campaign was the fact that the parties steered clear of mentioning the dreaded R word – Recession.
This week NSO published statistics that show that in the first quarter of 2009, the Maltese economy contracted by 3.3% compared to the same period last year. Malta has been in a recession for the last 12 months, and it is now getting worse.
The decreasing number of tourists, and the reduction in manufacturing orders, are causing a domino effect throughout the economy. This morning I had a harrowing chat with a salesman in a shop. He told me that he had been laid off, and that he would be leaving in a couple of weeks. He had been working in that shop for 20 years, and he was worried that he would not find another job because he is over 50. He was not angry with the owner of the shop – he said he understood the decision because hardly anyone was buying anything from the store anymore. I did not know what to say to him – I wished him good luck, but even as I said it, I knew how hollow the words sounded.
This is the real crisis that is hitting the country. The irregular immigrants are a problem, and the situation definitely needs to be addressed, but the true crisis that is unfolding is the state of the economy, and the way it is affecting workers such as this salesman.

A band of merry men
We finally know who the six MEPs who are going to represent us in the European Parliament are going to be. The gentlemen in question all have their strong points and weak points, and on the whole they are a decent bunch. At this stage, however, I have to express my disappointment that no women were elected. This was not because the female candidates did not have a lot going for them – I am sure that women such as Roberta Metsola Tedesco Triccas and Marlene Mizzi would have done an excellent job and made us proud.
I guess at the end of the day it was all down to the vagaries of our rather complicated voting system. People take their number 1 preference very seriously, but appear to proceed with their ranking in a rather slap-dash manner. As we have all learnt over the last few days, every single number we write on the ballot paper counts.

Eco-Gozo?
Last weekend the Sunday Times sported a big colourful advert on Eco-Gozo. It informed us that the photovoltaic system at the Ministry of Gozo had generated 41,700kWh of electricity in the last two and a half years, resulting in a saving of €7,700, i.e. a saving of €3,080 per year. This, we were told, is equal to 5% of the total energy consumption of the ministry’s office block.
Let us look at it the other way. The ministry’s office block must therefore be using a total of 333,600kWh per annum, at a cost of €61,600, and generating a total of 292,000kg of carbon dioxide emissions per year. Hardly eco-friendly! I have no idea what kind of setup the ministry has in Gozo, but the fact that their office uses the same amount of energy as 140 households made up of four people each (a total of 560 people) is definitely not something to boast about.
We are then told that the €7700 that has been saved in the last two and a half years will be re-invested in extending the PVC system. I guess that first they will deduct the €850 that they spent on the advert – leaving them with €6850. I wonder just how many PVC panels €6850 will buy? Maybe enough to save another 1% off their gigantic electricity bills!

www.claudinecassar.com

Any comments?
If you wish your comments to be published in our Letters pages please click button below.
Please write a contact number and a postal address where you may be contacted.

All the interviews from Reporter on MaltaToday's YouTube channel.

EDITORIAL


The ghost of McCarthy

INTERVIEW