Panoramic Viewpoint

By Joe Garcia

Gibraltarian Solidarity may ring a bell if you think Polish...

There is a long-held tradition in some UK circles that everyone on the other side of the English Channel is a foreigner and that all foreigners are the same. So, when appointing a Minister for Europe who best than someone with a foreign ancestry?

The previous Minister for Europe, Peter Hain, hails from South Africa. His predecessor, Keith Vaz, was of Asian origin. And the present incumbent in the post was born Denis Matyjaszek. He has arrived in Gibraltar as Dr Denis MacShane.

His brave and courageous father was a Polish officer who fought for freedom, against Nazi Germany during the Second World War.He was wounded and later settled in Britain. By coincidence or design, Dr MacShane is visiting Gibraltar on the 60th anniversary of the death on the Rock of that great Polish hero, General Sikorski. 

The general met his death in an air crash at Gibraltar, in unexplained circumstances. Today, the visiting minister will sail in a boat to the spot where General Sikorski met his death, to pay his respects.

It will be a touching moment which his father would have wholly approved. The family of his Irish mother had settled in Glasgow where Denis was born in 1948. When he became a trainee journalist with the BBC it was thought that it might be difficult to pronounce his foreign name. So, he chose his mother's maiden name.

So, welcome to this British land of largely foreign names! It is something Dr MacShane will understand, that the people of Gibraltar are what they are and not what some of their ancestors might have been, as long ago as even 300 years.

The people of Gibraltar have moulded into an identifiable community, and this is their homeland.

However, it is not clear at this juncture if Dr MacShane fully understands, or wants to understand or is allowed to understand, the British Gibraltarians' right to their land.

I say this in the knowledge that he has a doctorate in international relations, and this might influence him to adopt academic postures when considering the issue of Gibraltar, which is a known tendency in the Foreign Office.

A former Governor of Gibraltar once told me: At the Foreign Office they try to resolve problems by looking at a map and taking theoretical positions, devoid of human feelings. It is as if humans did not live in Gibraltar.

As he travels about wearing his European hat, Dr MacShane nowadays says things like this: "You can wrap yourself in a flag and stand aside, or you can take the prosperity which is on offer."

It is the kind of thing his predecessor would say about Gibraltar, in trying to sell our sovereignty.

Of course, all members of the EU are giving up rights by pooling sovereignty for European aims and the common good of all members. So is Gibraltar, every time we accept an EU directive or regulation. That is one thing, as the chief minister has recently pointed out. It is something else to dilute one's sovereignty to the extent that no one else in Europe is expected to do.

Dr MacShane should think back to 1981 when he was arrested and imprisoned by the Communists in Poland for doing what he thought was right... organising support for Solidarity, the brave Polish union that was fighting against all odds. He should not be surprised that the people of Gibraltar are also doing what they think is right in defence of their hard-won rights in this, their home.

Here, 99% call it: Gibraltarian solidarity! 

Parliamentary sketch

The Budget. What Budget?

by Dr Joseph Garcia
Liberal Party leader and Opposition member

Many would agree that Budget 2003 was not an earth-shattering affair. It was one of those ocassions where a Government sets out to impress an electorate and is more concerned with hard reality of vote-catching as opposed to the more complex facts of economic policy and performance.

This was reflected in the fact that the Chief Minister himself chose to concentrate his efforts in pointing out how much better off people were by comparing 2003 to 1996, and not 2003 to 2002 which would have been the logical thing to do. The budget debate has long become a state of the nation debate where both the Government and the Opposition raise matters outside the strict remit of the Appropriation Bill before the House.

There can be no doubt that the Opposition hit the Government hard on a wide range of issues, many of which were widened to highlight Government deficiences throughout the last financial year.

As usual Joe Bossano was impressive on the economy, Mari Montegriffo gave the Government a hiding on the poor state of our health services, Steven Linares was tough on the way the Theatre Royal project had been handled, Juan Carlos Perez blasted them on the traffic chaos, Pepe Baldachino was criticial on employment and social issues, and Reggie Valarino gave the Government a run for their money on their weak performance on housing. For my part, Joe Holliday and Keith Azopardi were put in their place over tourism and economic development.

PERFORMANCE 

It was a tough performance by all the Opposition Members and the Government Ministers barely held their ground. The system in the House means that they speak first, and are then subjected to a grilling by their respective Shadow. The weakness of the Ministerial addresses meant that the Chief Minister's summing up at the end took all the morning session and part of the afternoon on Friday. He clearly had lost ground to make up.

Yet there were a number of interesting themes which run through many Ministerial statements this year. It was almost a case once more of nice and plentiful on words but empty on results. If words should fail then have no fear. The same projects are available for announcement at a string of budget sessions year in and year out. These announcements can also be repeated again and again throughout the year. The reason for this is obvious. It creates an impression of activity when in reality everything is much the same.

PROPAGANDA

And then we have the exaggerated propaganda claims. Gibraltar, we are told again and again has a record this, the highest that, the centres of excellence, the best result in a bleak global climate, and when all else fails then it can be blamed on September 11th. I do not think they have blamed the state of the health service on this one yet but who knows! Judging from what the Chief Miniser has said, the new hospital will rival the Ritz and the Savoy put together, all that will be missing is 24 hour room service and a jacuzzi in each room.

If tourism to Gibraltar comes down, they say its because tourism to Spain has done down. However, when tourism to Spain shoots up and we do not, then the same criteria does not apply in reverse.

This is another theme that emerged in the budget debate. It involves a bout of amnesia about what has been said in the past and shifting from one position to another when the last one becomes unsustainable. Carry on long enough and you end up back where you started!

You know you have done well when the Government side resorts to insults and abuse in order to cover up their shortcomings. The Opposition were accused of being ill-informed, we were abusing statistics, we were speaking nonsense, distortions, non-issues and half-truths. Presumably this variety of truths (half-truths) hurts more than full truths. And the reaction is guaranteed to be all the more explosive.

At the other end of the scale is the quiet theme. Let me explain. Just like Basil Fawlty in that episode of Faulty Towers kept on telling everyone not to mention the war, in the last budget session one theme among some Ministers was not to mention the problem. Therefore controversial areas like a dialysis unit for the new hospital were skipped over like a minefield. It was as if a briefing had been given to be brief and to avoid such matters.

THE SEVENTH THEME

The seventh theme, like the number of deadly sins, only emerges when all else fails. Then the Government simply takes the idea you presented the last time, makes it their own, and criticses you anyway.

It will be recalled that they were critical of the idea of serving hot school meals to schoolchildren when this was suggested by the GSLP/Liberals at the last elections. However, the Minister for Education told the House this Budget time that they are now looking into doing this. 

It will also be recalled that the Government have resisted the call by the GSLP/Liberals to have MOT tests done every two years instead of every year. This time round the Minister for Transport Joe Holliday told the House that what was unacceptable before was now actually on the cards. So we will have MOT tests every two years after all! The bare faced cheek involved in adopting somebody else’s policies, is multiplied fourfold when these were policies that the GSD itself was hostile to not that long ago.

A couple of honourable members referred to the weather. The truth is that the heat inside the chamber is truly unbearable. Juan Carlos Perez obtained a sympathetic response from the Government when he suggested that the House connects itself to the air conditioning unit of the new premises which will be opening on the ground floor. This offer was made to the House and it would be for free. Neither the Speaker nor the Clerk nor the Chief Minister knew anything about it - but it seemed too good an offer to refuse. In the future the elected representatives of the people can look forward to the summer months without the suana atmosphere that characterises our Parliament in that season. And as for the budget. What budget? 

Talk of the Town

Who wants to buy his own flat?

The government is trying to revive the selling of government flats to tenants, an old scheme which in the past never took off.
Accustomed to picking up a phone and getting free service for repairs etc, most government tenants appear to be opposed to buying their flat.
One insurmountable problem that arises is that, if all tenants in one block refuse to buy, the scheme ends there. How can you have in the same block tenants and owners representing different aims and having different responsibilities?

REASONS

There are also those tenants who would have no objection to buying a flat, but not necessarily the flat they live in. This can be for a variety of reasons.
It is one thing to put up with certain inconveniences as a tenant but something entirely different to endure problems as an owner. And, not only that, but to know before buying the problems one is inheriting.
There are serious doubts, therefore, that such a scheme can take off in a substantial way to allow the government to divest itself from the costly business of maintenance and other chores.
Building new houses for sale at affordable prices is the answer. But here the government has failed in not capitalising on the impetus provoked by the GSLP’s vast house-building programme, which did so much to bring down the large numbers on the waiting list.
Instead, the government (for reasons they’ve explained) have done virtually nothing in building new blocks for general ownership, with the resultant gulf forcing people to buy houses in Spain to allow for the deficiency in government home ownership.

COMPLAIN

Many people look around and complain that government policy has been to build, or allow houses to be built, for the rich and for the better-off elements in society.
Private property built on private grounds is one thing, but it is entirely different for a government to allow prime sites, not for the average person, but for the wealthy person, often from abroad.
While houses must be built to cater for all tastes, including those from abroad, a proper balance must be struck particularly in a small place like Gibraltar where land is so scarce.

TESTIMONY
Testimony of the housing problem the government has helped create is the many people who have expressed an interest to buy a flat under the developments which the government has recently announced after so many years of inaction in such an important area of society.
What is clear is that, once a massive housing programme is completed, the government of the day cannot sit back and think that’s that. Because housing is a constant need, that grows and grows, requiring ongoing building programmes. 

TOURISM DEBATE: 
Garcia is out of touch

- says JOE HOLLIDAY,
Minister of Tourism

Tourism in 2002 performed well, with growth experienced by many sectors, when compared to the previous year. I am satisfied with the general results achieved in Gibraltar, when one compares this to the significant drops in business reported by many other competing destinations. The results so far this year have been very encouraging, with further growth enjoyed in many sectors of the industry.

I will not allow this opportunity to pass without commenting on the usually ill-informed press statements issued by the Opposition Spoke person for Tourism. One would be forgiven for thinking that tourism in Gibraltar is in crisis. It would seem that nothing that the Government does is right, and that I personally have a lot to answer for. 

During the last few months Dr Garcia has raised his usual accusations against the Yachting, Cruise and Air Transport sectors. My only conclusion from these are that he is either ill-informed and totally out of touch with reality, or that he wishes to misrepresent the truth and purposely misinform the public. Fortunately, the public is simply not going to be convinced by the content of his statements, as the Government’s results and achievements are evident for all to see. Who in Gibraltar cannot see our Marinas full of yachts, Cruise ships arriving like never seen before 1996 and air arrivals at their highest level since 1990? The answer is …probably just Dr Garcia. 

YACHT ARRIVALS

I now wish to refer in greater detail to the yacht sector. The Honourable Member finds - from figures that I supply him on a monthly basis - that the number of yachts visiting Gibraltar has decreased in 2002 to 4,172 yachts compared with 4,528 the previous year. This leads him to claim that the sector is in decline. However, what Dr Garcia fails to do is to analyse whether the length of stay of yachts has increased. If he did so, he would find that this was indeed the case, and a primary reason for fewer yacht arrivals was the fact that marinas were often full with yachts that stay for longer periods of time. The net effect is that there has been growth in the yacht sector since 1996. The figures for yacht arrivals on their own are not a good gauge of performance.

CRUISE INDUSTRY

In so far as the cruise industry is concerned, there are a number of facts that need to be borne in mind when measuring the degree of success that Gibraltar is achieving. In the first instance, Gibraltar's geographical position means that it is a popular cruise port for all vessels that sail itineraries, which enter or leave the Mediterranean. We therefore have a large number of cruise calls when ships are positioned in the Mediterranean at the start of the cruise season in April and May and again in September and October when the ships leave the Mediterranean. Gibraltar is also successful in attracting calls from ships that sail an itinerary from the UK to the central Mediterranean and back.

It is important to highlight one of the problems which Gibraltar suffers compared with other ports of call in the region. The Gibraltar tours that are sold on board do not allow for full-day tours, for which a cruise operator can charge a high, premium price and make a substantial profit. What this means is that cruise operators are unable to make as much money from shore excursions at Gibraltar compared with other ports. It therefore requires that extra effort on my part and that of the Gibraltar Tourist Board to attract a significant number of cruise ships to Gibraltar.

I am pleased with the performance of the cruise sector in 2002. In 2002 against a background of the aftermath of the 11th September 2001, when American cruise companies pulled out of the Mediterranean, Gibraltar nevertheless achieved 149 calls with a total of almost 117,000 passengers. Dr Garcia does not consider this is good or even acceptable: he has blamed me for this situation and has said that I have a lot to answer for. Who can really believe these statements? Isn’t Dr Garcia aware that there are impacts caused by the events of11th September 2001, the general threat of international terrorism and the recent war in Iraq? 

AIR ARRIVALS - AIR POLICY

With regard to air arrivals at Gibraltar, growth has been sustained. There was a period of decline in air arrivals, year on year, up to 1996 when this Government came into office and arrested the decline. Since then, there has been steady growth.

It continues to be Government policy to attract new airlines to Gibraltar, to encourage existing airlines to open new routes and increase capacity on existing routes. At the end of the day, the Government is dependent on these Airlines that have to take their own commercial decisions, based on a wide range of factors.

I know that airlines could successfully operate new services to Gibraltar. The Manchester-Gibraltar link is an obvious example of a potentially profitable route. 

I continue to have negotiations with various airlines, and I am hopeful that success will be achieved.

Holliday behaving like the Iraq Minister of Information

- says Dr. JOSEPH GARCIA,
Opposition Tourism Spokesman

It is clear that the press releases issued by the Opposition have upset Mr Holliday. Perhaps he is upset because he would prefer it if people did not know the amount of money that he is spending and the disproportionately poor results that are being obtained in exchange. It is indeed up to Mr Holliday to answer for his record at a political level and to defend the effects of his spending spree and his globetrotting, in the same way as it is our duty, in Opposition, to point out the shortcomings of his policy. However, for him to suggest that such press releases are ill informed or misleading is complete nonsense, given that more often than not these are based on Government figures that are supplied by him.

The tourism budget stands at a total of £3.2 million of which £950,000 is spent on marketing. 

CRUISE CALLS

Given the considerable public expense involved in these trips abroad, it is only justified for the Opposition to question whether there has been a solid return on the investment made.

The number of cruise calls at Gibraltar has been down year on year since 2000. This is a trend which was established before the tragedy of September 11th 2001 and which was already apparent in the first eight months of 2001 from January to August. The Opposition regret that it has continued. In his budget address last year, the Minister for Tourism said that this downtrend was something that affected all Mediterranean ports and not just Gibraltar. This year Mr Holliday has told the House very much the same thing adding that he is pleased with the 2002 result given that it came in the aftermath of September 11th. This information is what is ill informed and misleading as I shall proceed to explain in more detail.

The comparisons I make with Malaga are not in percentage terms but in terms of actual cruise calls and actual cruise passengers. That is to say the number of cruise ships and the number of visitors on cruise ships. Indeed, if Malaga started after Gibraltar and from a low base, as the Member suggested, they have not only caught up with us, they have zoomed past and left us standing in their wake.

Malaga, had a record year in cruise calls in 2002, with 250 ships, when Gibraltar went marginally down to 149. Cadiz obtained 160 ships in 2002 at a time when Gibraltar obtained 149 cruise calls. It is clear that the feeble excuses put forward by the Government simply do not wash and that Mr Holliday is doing no more than clouding his failure with insults and innuendo. The point is that other ports on both sides of Gibraltar are doing better than Gibraltar.

The Minister has argued in the past that cruise passengers is a more important criteria to use than cruise ships because the trend in the industry is for larger ships. Even using this criteria Gibraltar does not fare much better. The Opposition is sorry to note that the opening results for the first quarter of 2003 are not very encouraging. In January, February and March this year only three cruise liners called at Gibraltar carrying a total of 984 passengers. This is the lowest figure for those three months since the GSD came into Government in 1996. In the same period that we had 3 cruise calls, Cadiz again had over six times as many with 19 cruise calls.

YACHT CALLS

The cliches and the catchphrases that we hear all the time are no longer enough and are being increasingly seen through by many people. There are further examples of this. In January 2003 the Minister went to the London Boat Show. (this cost nearly £23,000). There the member said that this stregthened the commitment to increasing the Rock's potential as a port of call. He said it was the ideal showcase for the splendid facilities that Gibraltar had to offer. Is it not about time that we stopped talking about the potential of Gibraltar and actually did something to harness that potential? The Minister must know that the number of yachts that called at Gibraltar is now nearly 900 yachts less than when he came into office in 1996.

The Government for the first time recently put forward the novel argument, repeated by Mr Holliday in this House, that what counts is the length of stay by yachts and not the number of yacht calls. This is a curious development not least of all because yacht length of stay figures are not published in the official statistics.

Like the Roman Emperor Nero who fiddled while Rome burnt, the Minister looks away from the evidence and insists that all is well. 

AIR

The other area which has been a total flop has been the Government's attempts to attract a new airline to Gibraltar.

The track record of this Government with regard to new airlines and air routes is abysmal. In their time in office Gibraltar has lost air links with Manchester, London Heathrow, Tangier, Casablanca and Marrakesh. It is not good enough to say these are commercial decisions taken by the airlines. If the Government take the credit when new air routes are opened, they must also take the stick when those routes are closed.

Having heard Mr Holliday's contribution to the budget debate, l am reminded of the Iraqi Information Minister who kept on claiming to the world how wonderfully they were doing when everyone knew from the evidence available that this was little more than exaggerated rhetoric and empty propaganda.

Saddam in the House...

Que susto, dijo alguien que estaba Saddam in the House of Assembly, haven't you heard, Cynthia mia?

Of course I have heard, but what I have heard is that la Marie said que todo lo que le falta al Chief Ministron is to have a statue of himself en la fuente del capullo, to be brought down with ropes como hicieron los americanos en Baghdad.

Oh, what Bad milk, I must say. 

Es que la cosa esta de miedo. Cuando el Chief Ministron had some nice words about la Marie, esta se asusto and asked whether she now required to wear some form of protective armour whilst she spoke.

And why should this be, my dear?

According to la Marie, she was attacked even before she spoke - so she was trembling with fright as to what would happen after she had spoken!

Estaba la cosa animada, it's the kind of thing GBc needs to televise para que se entretenga el pueblo, and not the repeats and junkie we now pay for.

Verdad que el GBC es to mas aburrido del mundo, y lo que nos cuesta la fiesta, hija mia.

Anyway, before I forget, the spectre of Saddam days also featured cuando hablo Doc Garcia. Con el Mister Holliday diciendo que todo estaba bien, que everything was wonderful, etc, el Doc said que esto reminded him of the Iraqi minister of information, el que decia que todo anbada bien even cuando los tanks were in the streets of Baghdad!

How wonderful! All this is the spice of life, we won't pay the politicians for nothing, que nos diviertan un poco, caramba.

Meanwhile, segun dicen los War veterans, al Spymaster se le ve el plumero.

Y eso porque?

Porque, en plan disimulao, empieza a decir lo que decia Straw & Co.

Another hombre de paja, I imaginate.

Es que la cosa se anima to receive a MacShame, el que dice que todo sigue igual.

Es que ni el 99% del referendum is sufficient para meterle en la cabeza a esta gente que what we want is what we want and what we are is what we are.

Claro que si, y esto no es una locura de verano. Ni de carnicero tampoco.

Por otro lado dicen que el new Theatre Royal is going to cost more que el Covent Garden.

No me digas que lo van a usar como un market para vender verdura?

Blimey, what a thing to say, it must be the effects of the levanter. Bueno hija, let's leave it there and say goodbye.

Goodbye de melon.

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