Environmental appeal

The Ramblers’ Association is concerned at the uncanny similarities, and some important differences, between two environmental issues: the recent San Blas beach-‘cleaning’ incident and the Marsalforn case when on March 9, voting day, concrete was poured on bare rock to form a platform on the sea’s edge.

Both cases involved business outlets, whose owners/operators denied any involvement in the wrong-doings. Both owners had previous enforcement orders on their site.

In both cases the Ministry for Gozo was involved: At Marsalforn it took the initiative to remove the concrete platform and at San Blas it sent heavy machinery to ‘clean up’ the beach after a request by the business person concerned. Only that after the clean-up, a number of large rocks went missing.

The differences are as follows: The San Blas case is still being investigated and it seems that a person will be arraigned. He was also prohibited from continuing to set up tables and chairs and cannot therefore now serve food. So, who alerted the police and Mepa or the MTA in this case?

In the Marsalforn case the police were never asked to investigate and, though told to remove the tables and chairs, and served with an enforcement order, it is still business as usual for the owner/operator.

Our association will welcome attempts by anybody to explain these goings-on. We can be contacted on ram205@gmail.com.