Scarcity of land, high population density and mountains of stone waste in Malta are some of the proclaimed driving factors behind a debatable notion to build more dwellings on untouched areas presently covered by sea. Land reclamation, the process of using infill to create new land from the sea, was the subject of a discussion open to the public last month.
So far, we have seen very necessary extensions of the coastline to meet the requirements of our expanding ports, ranging from Birżebbugia to Ċirkewwa, not without inevitable negative impacts on water quality and sea life. Concerns for the fate of our marine environment continue to run high.
Building islands and extending the coastline has long been a pet vision of actors in the local construction business. They prize the idea for the ease with which they might dispose of their stone waste, if permitted to dump it offshore as part of a grander design.
At a forum organised by the Malta chapter of an international incentive for the sustainable built environment (SBE), arguments for and against land reclaimed from the sea were floated for debate. SBE Malta was set up in 2012 as a non-governmental organisation to promote sustainable development targets in the built environment.
The occasion was a rare face-off between architect and civil engineers (periti) – invariably enthusiastic about any new challenge to their skills – and the rest of us who may not share the same enthusiasm for land reclaim for a number of valid reasons.
A full year has gone by since 21 expressions of interest for land reclamation were received by a government which has failed to divulge the locations which may be put at risk of irreversible environmental harm. It was the sheer lack of transparency throughout the whole process which persuaded the organisers of the debate that this discussion had to be held in the open.
It was the former Nationalist prime minister, Lawrence Gonzi, who first declared his government’s intention to embark on a project to create artificial islands on the Maltese coastline in 2005. It later transpired that the huge volume of construction debris needed would either mean importing it from abroad or ‘stepping up efforts to generate it locally’.
This last option translates as the sanctioning of a rampant building frenzy to create more excavation waste for land reclamation projects known for their insatiable appetite for infill material.
After half a million euro was spent on studies, all pointing to lack of feasibility, the pipe dream sank below the horizon. Reawakened by a Labour government vying to appease an opportunistic developers lobby, further studies to determine whether land reclamation projects are doable have been shunted into the hands of the same developers.
Meantime, Labour leader Joseph Muscat has outrightly dismissed the competence of the planning authority when it comes to gauging economic feasibility of land reclamation. He leaves it to interested parties to find ways of covering the costs to dispose of their own waste. This has led to a fascination with schemes to build on the sea what the natural constraints of an island territory have disallowed on land.
The Palm City model of Dubai has captured much attention. With some tweaking to make it look more ‘local’, these projects may well pass a through a crippled Mepa without an environmental leg to stand on.
Building an upmarket real estate enclave by constructing dwellings on artificial islands off the Maltese coastline would carry one particular advantage for the developer. Except for the fish and a few seabirds, there are no cranky neighbours to complain of dust and disturbance over the several years it would take to complete this type of project. But if seagrass meadows could do more than whisper under the waves then their dissent would be very loud.
Posidonia is a keystone species, a term architects will understand well. The underwater sea grasses thrive in clear waters mostly outside ports. Forming a web-like matte anchored to the sandy seabed, posidonia meadows provide an essential safe haven to breeding fish and other marine organisms.
The notion of building islands to provide a footprint in the sea for yet more luxury housing and yacht berths has sent a ripple of anticipation through the construction community. However, as experts have said, the suspended silt from the land reclamation process would be the death knell of sea grasses and bring marine degradation to entire coastal areas.
Marine ecology consultant Alan Deidun, a speaker on the panel at last month’s green debate, fears that using our sea or coastlines as a test ground for land reclamation is too big a risk.
“Land reclamation is being marketed as a tool to reduce pressure on areas outside the development zone,” said Deidun, while pointing out that the land-grab bid to construct more property was clearly not for social purposes. He noted that any activity has a larger area of impact in the marine environment than on land.
Guest speaker and international port consultant Wim Klomp said the environment was becoming more important whenever land reclamation proposals were considered. Advocating land reclamation to meet the continuous need for port development in response to the growth of world trade and shipping activities, Klomp gave details of port expansion projects he had managed worldwide.
According to Klomp, reclamation projects can be designed to promote regrowth of sea life such as corals, sea grasses and mangroves. This may be so to a certain extent although marine biologists have very valid concerns regarding the wider marine ecosystem.
The suspended silt from the land reclamation process would be the death knell of sea grasses and bring marine degradation to entire coastal areas
Architect and civil engineer Joe Bugeja, designer and project manager for the 200,000-square-metre container terminal reclaimed from the sea at the Freeport, described how it was done. He paid homage to the Freeport as a vital link in the Maltese economy, generating €170 million annually and 2,000 jobs. He acknowledged that land reclamation required high levels of expertise to be successful.
Developer Anġlu Xuereb, president of the Federation of Building Contractors, ruled out the Dubai model for Malta. Instead he showed the audience images of the magical Port Grimaud, with its faux historical buildings. This is the model on which Xuereb aspires to base a residential marina enclave.
Yet all is not rosy in this French seaside enclave, built on a marsh in the 1960s. A Europa Nostra document on safeguarding coastal culture has flagged the appearance of ‘Potemkin’ (*) harbours in Europe which have become ‘Disneyfied’ by over-exploitive tourism. Port Grimaud is listed as a prime example. Is this where we want to go?
The Port Grimaud condominium of over 2,000 owners, each with a private yacht tied up outside their summer home, has been embroiled in legal arguments over who is responsible for de-silting the canals which had fouled to an unacceptable level.
Originally it was thought to be the local council that was in charge of silt removal. When a bill of €700,000 landed in their laps, the buck was passed on to a tangle of bickering owners. Such questions are generally left out of the design process.
Xuereb also suggested that government should buy stone blocks, store them and issue a tender for the construction of artificial reefs to create an incentive for anyone who wanted to ‘develop’ them. Stone could be mined by digging tunnels to extract it instead of opening more quarries, he argued.
A Din L-Art Ħelwa council member remarked that once the posidonia was lost it was gone forever. He added that land reclamation should be restricted to projects for essential infrastructural needs.
“Methodologies are brilliant but there are going to be incidents during construction. Planning tools are not consistently used with all developers. Small developers bear the brunt while big developers get away with it,” said the DLĦ representative.
An incident was cited in which the approved methodology was abandoned during works on the Portomaso basin, which resulted in plumes of milky water full of construction silt: “An alternative methodology was used – they were better off paying the fine than going by the contract.”
Clear contenders for land reclamation and private gain at public loss are sites near Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq and Xgħajra. Putting into jeopardy the environmental health of Malta’s entire eastern and southern coastlines seems far too big a risk to take.
Developers placed much weight on the environmental impact assessment. Reassurances pour from the mouths of project managers that monitoring of the environment affected will be undertaken. However, it is often a question mark whether permit conditions to monitor are truly effective at preserving the biodiversity under threat.
As an observer member of the Building Industry Consultative Council, SBE Malta may hopefully exercise a positive influence on decisions which may have a long-lasting effect on our marine environment over the coming years.
www.sbemalta.org
(*) A Russian named Grigory Potemkin erected fake settlements along the banks of the Dnieper River in order to fool Empress Catherine II during her journey to Crimea in 1787.