The country’s urban and rural environment continues to suffer irreversible deterioration. More buildings are added to the large stock of apartments, hotels, and offices, especially on agricultural and public land. The government and its agent, the Planning Authority, keep ignoring the public’s concern about the importance of open spaces for their quality of life.
Many are asking why ordinary people’s concerns are being ignored as greed continues having its way. Hundreds of people, not just contractors alone, continue to be driven solely by the desire to maximise profit from any property or plot they inherit or exploit, showing an astonishing level of selfishness at the expense of the wider community.
The government and the PA are tone-deaf to the environmental concerns of people who simply need access to some open space. The PA has recently given the green light to three controversial development applications that threaten residents’ quality of life in various areas and the encroachment on land earmarked for agriculture and public use.
An application to develop an 18,302-square-metre plot of arable land, equivalent to 70 tennis courts, in the Nigret area, will see five apartment blocks being built.
Żurrieq, especially the Nigret area, has made headlines for several zoning changes as the PA is inclined to apply planning regulations elastically.
Another retirement home on 9,300 metres of ODZ land in Birguma is also likely to be built, with the PA indicating it has no problem with approving this project. The Għarghur local council objected to the application, arguing that the land should remain ODZ first and foremost.
A 4,000 square metre stretch of public land at Tal-Qortin in Mellieħa, described by residents as a ‘green lung’ for their locality, is also set for development. It will accommodate 132 flats and garages. The public land was granted to developers on a 50-year lease against a payment of €380,000 annually.
There is no shortage of the government’s declarations that it will prioritise the quality of life of people over economic growth considerations.
Yet, Prime Minister Robert Abela and the PA keep pandering to property development entrepreneurs.
It is no wonder that more people are losing trust in their political leaders’ ability to improve their lives. The continuous deterioration of our urban and rural environment is irreversible, as restoring built-up land to its original state of an open space is almost impossible.
The setting up of Project Green is increasingly looking like another red herring aimed at misleading the public into thinking the government wants to prioritise the protection of the environment after more than a decade of neglect.
The recent leadership changes in the PA have not improved the situation. Despite the change in ministerial responsibility for the PA, it continues to dish our permits for more development as the economic growth-at-all-cost mindset of the government persists. Most people living in apartments want to have the opportunity to enjoy a semblance of a public space for recreational purposes.
Instead, they see limited available open spaces, including in our town centres, gobbled up by concrete, creating more pollution and traffic congestion.
Malta has one of the highest per capita building permit approval rates in Europe. Malta is also one of the most overpopulated countries in the world. That is a recipe for mayhem.
It is dangerous for the government to wait for a deus ex machina - a sudden and unexpected solution to a problem – to resolve the issues it has created for itself in the last decade.
It is time for the prime minister to keep his ears to the ground to understand what people are desperately craving for.