Church commission laments Kalkara Valley development

The Church's Diocesan Environment Commission has expressed concern and regret at the development taking place in Kalkara Valley.

The commission said such development had the approval of the authorities concerned, particularly the Malta Environment and Planning Authority.

It said it was sorry to note that while the process has started to prepare a national strategy for sustainable development, development that was in progress was not sensitive enough to the environmental needs of the site where it is taking place. The commission said that in no way did the development at Kalkara Valley benefit people living in the locality or the natural environment that will remain. The only few who would benefit were the developers through the money such a project would render.

It also noted that while it was now too late to save this part of the valley from environmental destruction, it just the same felt that Maltese society and the authorities concerned should learn a lesson from this sad happening.

The commission hoped more maturity would be shown in the process applied to manage the country's natural resources.

The Ministry for Rural and Environment Affairs said the decision taken by the government in 2002 to reduce the land earmarked for development had effectively meant that Kalkara Valley would be saved from being developed as originally proposed.

The government had reduced land for development by 10,000 square metres. This land had been earmarked for building development since the 1960s.

The ministry said the government's policy had always been in favour of the protection of sites such as that of Kalkara Valley and facts confirmed it was the government's decision that had led to the extension of land on which no development at Kalkara Valley could take place.