Water wastage and locked away civil servants

Of all the various stories I wrote in 2025, the one about the dam in Solea – ‘A dam full of water going to waste’, to quote the headline – wasn’t necessarily the most consequential.

Still, it encapsulated much of what I find interesting about the job, both this past year and in general.

For a start, there was the way I heard about the story – not through a press release or a news conference, but randomly, by talking to people.

Having gone to the farmers’ market (a weekly ritual) on a Saturday morning...