Editorial: A stark contrast between two laws

Come September, agricultural land must be registered, tilled yearly and kept clear of large structures such as boats or vehicles.

The Protection of Agricultural Land Regulations come into force on September 24, though landowners will have a six-month period to register their land with the government.

Agriculture Minister Anton Refalo’s announcement of the legal provisions sparked a measure of outcry and concern among some landowners, who were especially alarmed at a provision that will allow the government to acquire effective possession of any land that remains unregistered, to allocate to a registered farmer.

There are, however, some very valid reasons for the government to regulate this sector.

Farmland in Malta is scarcer – and far more expensive – than in any other EU country, given our small size and dense population.

A Eurostat survey published a few months ago found that agricultural land in Malta costs an eye-popping 24 times the EU average.

Those prices make it impossible for farmers to consider expanding their holdings. The average European farmer needs to fork out €12,000 to buy a hectare of farmland. A Maltese one needs €283,000. Good luck drumming up that sort of cash by selling fruits and vegetables.

The laws will explicitly forbid speculators from advertising farmland for sale by touting its value for recreational activities. Using farmland for recreational purposes will still be permitted but it cannot be the land’s primary use.

Similarly, a landowner can store large items on their land for a few days but no more than that. Farmland will no longer double up as a parking lot for boats, cars, caravans or other such vehicles. And that is a good thing.

Farmers have made it clear they fully back the new laws, and it is perhaps indicative that none of the other stakeholders who stand to be impacted by this new law have spoken out about it.

None, that is, apart from one. Hunters and trappers threw a strop, claiming the new laws would impinge on property rights and terming them “unacceptable”.

In reality, the law states that the government will possess and reassign unregistered and unclaimed farmland but only until the holder of the land’s title makes themselves known.

Two days later, the FKNK issued a second statement in which they claimed to have secured “amendments” to the regulations that address their concerns.

The federation gave no details about those amendments and the Agriculture Ministry has remained silent. One hopes that the FKNK statement is more bluster than fact.

The biggest problem with the new law is that it stands in stark contrast to the government’s standard modus operandi, which is to reward those who disregard the law.

This new law was unveiled just days after The Sunday Times of Malta revealed plans to dramatically alter another piece of legislation concerning farmland: a law that will allow people who built illegally on Outside Development Zone land to get away with it, if they pay a fine.

The contrast between the two laws and their approaches to bad behaviour could not be starker.

If a farmland owner neglects their fields and does not register or till them, the land will be reassigned to a working farmer. But if that same owner built an illegal wedding hall on those same fields, he or she will get a shortcut to legalising it.

How does the government square that circle?