The Environment Authority was informed that huge tracts of woodland would be handed over to the hunters’ lobby just “hours” before two agreements were signed behind closed doors on October 9.
The Environment and Resources Authority signed off on one of the agreements with the FKNK – a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that is not legally binding to “safeguard” the Miżieb and Aħrax site – despite only being roped in to rubber-stamp the agreement at the last minute.
A separate deal signed by the Lands Authority, which ERA was not a party to, handed the FKNK management of the two sites.
The woodlands deal did not even feature on the agenda of an ERA board meeting held on the day the two agreements were signed.
Conservation officers shall be recruited by Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri, who is himself a hunter
The deal was initially scheduled to be signed on October 11 but was pushed forward by two days as outrage grew once word of the land transfer leaked.
One source familiar with the authority’s work said that apart from not even being on the board meeting’s agenda, the MoU signed by ERA CEO Michelle Piccinino was not presented to the board for scrutiny.
A spokesman for ERA told Times of Malta that agendas are set in advance of board meetings.
“In this particular instance, ERA was informed a few hours before the signing of both agreements and therefore it was opportune to inform the ERA board that an MoU was being entered into”.
ERA board members were informed about this at the very beginning of the meeting, the spokesman said.
The spokesman said the safeguards in the MoU include conservation of the site, monitoring and patrolling, reporting of offences to competent authorities and assurances that all public passageways and thoroughfares will always remain open.
According to the separate agreement signed between the FKNK and Lands Authority, access to the sites shall remain open to the public except during specific times of the day during the hunting seasons.
The agreement does not exclude the FKNK from carrying out commercial activities on the site.
‘Conservation officers’ shall be recruited by Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri, who is himself a hunter, to help manage the site.
According to the agreement, these officials will be seconded to the FKNK at public expense and “report directly” to the hunters’ lobby.
The FKNK has argued that the management deal they had signed with the government changed nothing “substantial.”
A protest against the deal organised by environmental groups is set to be held outside the Prime Minister’s office on October 31.