{"id":7812,"date":"2024-11-14T15:32:39","date_gmt":"2024-11-14T14:32:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/?post_type=article&p=7812"},"modified":"2024-11-14T15:33:34","modified_gmt":"2024-11-14T14:33:34","slug":"kollox-jghaddi-anke-s-suppost-kwalita","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/article\/kollox-jghaddi-anke-s-suppost-kwalita\/","title":{"rendered":"Anything goes \u2026even quality"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The theme for the 2025 budget \u2018A Country of Quality\u2019 could sound inspiring, suggesting an ambitious drive by the government toward a higher standard of living. However, upon closer inspection, one may wonder whether this is a visionary plan or merely a reaction to disappointing public poll results. For quality to become a national ethos, its impact should be deeply felt in areas that directly affect citizens\u2019 everyday lives, like reducing traffic congestion, preserving the environment, and promoting a balanced quality of life. Instead, this budget lacks the foundational policies necessary to address these urgent concerns over the long term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A fundamental measure of quality is, undoubtedly, the standard of living. Yet, as it stands, the 2025 budget doesn\u2019t seem to offer a clear path to improvement. Issues such as daily traffic gridlock, unchecked urban development, and deteriorating green spaces are glossed over, and there is little to address the real challenges people face. Thousands of commuters leave home two hours early just to arrive at work on time, spending countless hours stuck in traffic, sacrificing valuable time with their families. The budget fails to address how couples\u2014many of whom hesitate to start or grow their families\u2014can feel confident in raising children without resorting to long childcare hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another glaring oversight is the absence of incentives to develop open green spaces. Instead of curbing urban sprawl, many policies still seem to enable the unchecked growth of concrete at the expense of community parks and recreational areas. Economic growth, too, seems misaligned with the idea of quality. Rather than promoting industries and jobs with high value-added potential, the focus continues to be on attracting low-wage labour\u2014a model that prioritizes quantity over quality, diluting Malta’s appeal as a place where skilled individuals can thrive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quality also encompasses intangibles like integrity and good governance, where the government has a crucial role to play. Genuine quality calls for an administration that upholds ethical standards and accepts responsibility when those standards are breached. When integrity falters and ethical missteps go unpunished, the people\u2019s trust erodes, and any talk of \u201cquality\u201d rings hollow. Public officials must lead by example, and any lapses\u2014especially those involving ministers or parliamentary secretaries\u2014must be addressed decisively, or the notion of quality will quickly become meaningless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, the promise of a \u201cquality leap\u201d in the 2025 budget appears elusive at best. Instead of laying a foundation for real improvement, this budget often feels like a patchwork response rather than a genuine commitment to tackling Malta\u2019s long-standing challenges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The theme for the 2025 budget \u2018A Country of Quality\u2019 could sound inspiring, suggesting an ambitious drive by the government toward a higher standard of living. However, upon closer inspection, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":7813,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"spay_email":""},"issuem_issue":[400],"issuem_issue_categories":[7],"issuem_issue_tags":[],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"2.8.8","language":"en","enabled_languages":["mt","en"],"languages":{"mt":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/7812"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7812"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/7812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7816,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/7812\/revisions\/7816"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue?post=7812"},{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue_categories?post=7812"},{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue_tags?post=7812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}