Devastation at Kalkara

The destruction of the natural environment at Kalkara valley to make way for the construction of more hideous buildings cannot pass unnoticed.

The forces of destruction, sanctioned by the Environment Minister and the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, have once again prevailed thanks to the help of their powerful friends. What is happening in Kalkara valley is a travesty of land planning principles. It symbolises the present regime founded on social injustice that readily allows a handful of powerful speculators prevail over the will and interests of the majority of ordinary citizens.

The plan to devastate Kalkara valley was hatched in the Grand Harbour Local Plan (GHLP) and aggravated during the so-called re-planning exercise by the Planning Authority in 2002. Those responsible hired experts and consultants who were prepared to use every means at their disposal to achieve their benefactors' aims.

Regulations that afford valleys special protection from development because of hydrological and geomorphological importance were bypassed by these "experts". These concluded that the area delimited for development is not a valley and should not merit any protection. This made fools of the citizens of Kalkara and our forefathers who always thought that the V-shaped "groove" that meanders down to the sea, wide enough to accommodate our parish church, was indeed a valley! The Kalkara local council reacted to this nonsense by commissioning a technical report that proves the existence of a valley right down to the sea coast.

The next absurd conclusion by the PA's experts was that the grove in the "groove" at Kalkara had little environmental value. Regardless of the dense thickets of carob, pine, olive and almond trees and the undercover of shrubs, we were informed by the re-planning exercise that the climax vegetation typical of maquis had not been reached! The PA concluded that the vegetation does not have "ecological value which merit protection" because "the undergrowth is now typical of maquis". Rarely have such technicalities been used to sanction development.

If this line of technical reasoning is used all the time it would be concluded that most of Malta's natural vegetation should not merit protection for most of it is disturbed ground and not climax vegetation. That would be a real anti-climax for local nature conservationists which Mepa claims to hold in high esteem!

Effectively, the PA's strategy was to - wrongly - prove that Kalkara valley and its vegetation are intrinsically imperfect and substandard and that its environment could only be improved with the help of a bulldozer! This perverted approach to environmental matters was institutionalised by the merger of the Environment Protection Department with the PA to form the monolithic Mepa. Labour has opposed this merger.

Mepa is now trapped in an unhealthy paradox stemming from its dual responsibility for the protection of the natural environment and urban land use planning. The latter is primarily managed by architects (including the minister) whose livelihood depend on a buoyant construction industry. Since architects dominate Mepa's top management, the natural environment is being strangled by the spreading concrete jungle.

Instead of protecting the environment, Mepa paradoxically prefers to close its eyes to the illegal destruction of the ancient trees in Kalkara valley. The destruction of these green landmarks will also rip out deep-rooted community values. The future is also at stake with the destruction of incipient organic farming in this valley which was a harbinger of sustainable development. Meanwhile, those who pay lip service to sustainable development prefer to remain silent.

The negative consequences of unbridled development at Kalkara are already being felt. We will expect more flooding problems during rainstorms, which has been aggravated by inadequate planning for storm water drainage in the proposed development. Landslides may be another consequence of building on steep slopes. Ultimately, the quality of life of citizens will deteriorate as the only green area that offers a breathing space within the dense urban landscape will be lost.

Mr Mizzi is the Labour Party's main spokesman for infrastructural services.