At times, journalists go out of their way to try to maintain that all political parties in government have made the same mistakes when it comes to the environment. This is grossly unfair.

I must go back to the years following the attainment of Malta’s independence. On the eve of the 1971 election, Parliament approved the Town and Country Planning Act with the aim of giving our islands a map of all the zones where development can take place. 

With the change of government and the election of the Labour Party in June 1971, this Act was shelved. Instead, our country went through the law of the jungle with land changing ownership and boundaries according to the whims of the minister who turned the planning system into one of institutionalised corruption.

The change of government in 1987 brought with it the creation of the Malta Planning and Environment Authority tasked with drawing local plans for Malta and Gozo and development zone boundaries. Even if not perfect, it changed the concept of building permits and the way these were issued. 

The Nationalist administrations were criticised for giving too much autonomy to this authority, but it is ultimately better to have more checks and balances than abusing the system to accommodate friends and friends of friends!

Another burning issue was the disposal of solid waste. In 1970, Malta had just one rubbish dump – the one at Luqa. The Nationalist government led by George Borg Olivier had plans, and earmarked funds, to close this dump and issue instead a Refuse Pulverising Plant. 

The Luqa dump was to be turned into a belvedere. Besides, the Nationalist administration was studying the possibility of treating sewage to use the treated effluent for irrigation purposes. 

Both these projects were scrapped by the Labour administration. Instead, three more rubbish dumps were opened in Malta, namely at Fulija, limits of Żurrieq, Marsascala and Magħtab along with Il-Qortin in Gozo. 

All these dumps were closed by the Nationalist administrations between 1987 and 2013. These were replaced by an engineered landfill. 

The Marsascala dump was transformed into a regional park. Thanks to EU funds, the Magħtab dump was cleansed from gases and is to be transformed into a huge recreational environment, while Fulija is earmarked for afforestation. A Strategy for the Management of Solid Waste was published 17 years ago and started being enacted. As a result of this strategy, and thanks to EU funding, today we have bring-in sites that eliminated the dumping of rubbish in countryside roads. 

A waste treatment plant was constructed, and collection of bulky refuse and other refuse is now carried out regularly.

But preserving the environment is not just about the regulation of the building industry and the collection and disposal of rubbish.

A masterplan for our drainage system was not only published but also put into action. Those who are my age remember the way our beaches were polluted with flowing drainage before 1987. The realisation of this masterplan eliminated all this pollution. 

The government works on temporary solutions that are becoming permanent mistakes

At the same time, three sewage treatment plants were constructed. These treat all the sewage in Malta and Gozo before it is disposed of into the sea. Through the construction of these plants, Malta was the first Mediterranean country to treat all its drainage effluent before it finds its way into the sea. 

To preserve the environment, there must also be the generation of electricity that pollutes least. 

Changing electricity production from coal to oil was the first step. Then came the introduction of lighter fuel. This was followed by the generation of electricity that pollutes less, as we have with the BWSC plant. 

Then we have the interconnector from which we import electricity that is produced in Europe and so creates zero pollution in Malta. Not to mention that it costs much less than what is produced locally! We also saw the introduction of a fleet of modern new buses by the company Arriva which were of the highest quality when it comes to curbing pollution; this too gave a helping hand to our environment. A lot more can be added to this list.

In February 2012, the Nationalist administration launched the National Policy for the Environment aimed at placing under one entity every environmental initiative. It’s a holistic strategy built around six pillars that define the environment.

During the Labour administration of the 1980s, environmentalists were beaten while protesting for a better environment. 

The Nationalist Party in government encouraged environmentalist organisations to move forward.

Today, we have a government that does not seem to care about the environment. It stripped the environment from the Planning Authority, creating another authority that is spineless and toothless. 

The way building permits are being approved, the way trees are being uprooted to make room for road widening, the way tables and chairs have invaded our pavements and streets are all proof of the present government’s insensitivity towards the environment.

The environment is an essential ingredient for our health. This government lacks any planning capacity. It works on temporary solutions that are becoming permanent mistakes. Unless we protect the environment, and care for it, we will pay the price of today’s bad decisions in the not-so-distant future.

Joe Zahra is a former editor of the Nationalist Party daily In-Nazzjon Tagħna.