Friday 29 March 2024

We could have told you it wouldn’t work

Photo credit: tvm.com.mt

Maybe someone at Transport Malta had a bet going on just how many people he could get to swear in unison on one day.That is the only plausible explanation I can think of why anyone would think it’s a good idea to place bollards around the two Naxxar roundabouts, effectively neutering their job of being, well, roundabouts.

Thankfully this mad, bizarre decision has been reversed, the bollards have been removed and traffic flow is back to normal in this very busy spot at the end of Tal-Balal road which leads to the Birguma bypass.   According to an official government statement: “As with all traffic management measures and initiatives being taken by Transport Malta aimed at easing traffic flow, the initial impact is always challenging as drivers need to adapt to new route/s. Transport Malta is regularly monitoring the traffic flow and will determine the most appropriate way forward in due course.”

The explanation given that this was an experiment did not go down very well either, especially not if you were one of those people who crashed into the bollards on the very day they were placed there without warning.

All over the Internet, drivers were demanding to know who this (bleeping) idiot was who came up with this brainwave who thinks we all need even more challenges in the daily trek to get from point A to point B. Nerves are badly frayed as it is because of the mind-numbing traffic which now requires you to leave for your destination one hour earlier rather than half an hour.  So the last thing commuters need are poorly-thought out decisions.

But what is even more incredible to me is that when this wacky idea was first brought forward during yet another Let’s Create More Traffic Chaos Meeting, no one, but no one had the temerity to raise their hand and say, “hmmm, you know what guys and gals, this is not going to work.”

That is what always gets me with new fangled decisions (not just about traffic but across the board):  that there aren’t enough people willing to shoot down a bad or stupid idea at the initial discussion stage. When it leads to the inevitable uproar among the public, the authorities are then left bewildered by the reaction and hurriedly back down.  This either means that whoever is involved in these decisions is completely cut off from public opinion on the issue, or simply has no common sense. Because why is it so glaringly obvious to the rest of us that a new idea won’t work, but it’s not so obvious to those making the decision?

Of course, there is a third and possibly more accurate reason: that too many people are afraid of contradicting their superiors and just follow orders without a peep.  I have seen this happen time and again myself at meetings where everyone is there nodding mutely like lapdogs at a new directive by the organization, and then once out of the meeting they all explode with loud guffaws and sarcastic comments about how idiotic, absurd and simply unworkable the idea is.  Because no one wants to be that (brave) person who points out to The Boss that the idea is well, not quite feasible.

Of course it’s not easy to go against the flow, but when a woefully bad idea is going to impact the population, what we need are more people within government offices who are willing to take the heat, step up and bluntly say, “No, this is not going to work”.   Think of all the swearing that will save.

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