A little blip in the series. I just got an idea. Not a revolutionary one but one that may help. Ghaddafi’s government (we have to start distinguishing between Ghaddafi and the Libyans just as we did with the Nazis and the Germans at least so as to get to the simple minded among us) can block internet but can it block the good old radio waves? Whatever happened to the Voice of the Mediterranean? It was one of those fancy projects that ended in a very nationalist scandal towards the end.
The time might be ripe to set up the station and direct it’s waves towards the Maghreb peoples. Shared experiences, shared stories and stirring music from common cultures. Now, if ever, is there the need for such a station to coordinate and inform. Exiles could pitch in and use the radio to disseminate guides on safety. Let the Tunisians and Ehyptians and any other nation participate. Why not include Italians, Spanish and other Mediterranean nations and grasp this opportunity to create a solid building block on Mediterranean cooperation.
Carpe diem. Give the Jasmine Revolution a voice of its own – Malta owes it to the Mediterranean.
Related articles
- Regime’s collapse could create ‘tidal wave’ of refugees (telegraph.co.uk)
- Qaddafi,The mad Max orders Destruction of Oil Pipe lines. (ramanan50.wordpress.com)
3 replies on “The Libyan Opportunity – 3”
A very apt observation indeed!
Nationalist scandal?! That was the time when local air waves were controlled by the MLP! It was blemish on them and no one else. It was an option which you are now candidly recommending to the Libyans and I agree.
Just before you accuse me of rewriting history VOM ended operations in December 2003. The final years of VOM are mired in controversy:
http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/two-maltese-ambassadors-summoned-over-report-into-voice-of-the-mediterranean
http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/ex-md-of-voice-of-the-mediterranean-defends-himself-against-damning-report
“Muscat is accused of “problems and irregularities” in the operations of the radio station, with major contracts and investments carried out by direct order. This included an annual Lm36,000 contract to his son. But Muscat says he was “not bound by government regulations.” The NAO report also says the VOM board of councillors, set up to oversee operations of the station, was totally ineffective, holding rare meetings and kept mostly in the dark about the investments made by Muscat.”
So yes. A very nationalist ending.