Infrastructure Minister Ian Borg on Thursday confirmed government plans to formally hand over the management of the woodlands at Miżieb and Aħrax to the FKNK hunters' federation.
The agreement, which was not discussed with the local councils of the two areas, was revealed by Times of Malta on Wednesday.
“We will be formalising what has existed since the 1980s,” the minister told reporters.
“Nothing will change with regard to public access. People will be able to access the sites in the same way as they do today, except during the hours of hunting, as is the case today.”
He said the deal would see the FKNK taking care of the sites, by planting trees cleaning the areas and repairing rubble walls, for example.
“It is what they've been doing for years,” he said.
"The FKNK were chosen for the management agreement because they have been doing a good job."
He said his ministry was in talks with various NGOs on property transfers and more news was expected shortly regarding reserves and historic sites.
Borg made his comments at Dar tal-Kleru, the church home for retired priests in Fleur-de-Lys, where we attended a tree-planting ceremony. Infrastructure Malta and the Archdiocese of Malta are collaborating in the regeneration of a garden, with more than 20,000 square metres of open land. Earlier this year, Infrastructure Malta planted 700 cypress trees there, while the planting of 700 trees is underway, including carob trees, olive trees, bay laurel, oak, Judas trees and fruit trees, together with 1,790 rosemary bushes alongside footpaths.
Environment NGOs oppose deal
A number of NGOs have protested over the deal with the FKNK. Environmental coalition Spazji Miftuħa on Wednesday said the government had “gifted public lands to an entity that has taken more from our country then it could ever possibly return”.
Leftist think tank Żminijietna said the authorities should aim towards ecological integrity of environmentally sensitive areas and not go in the opposite direction to please hunters.
“Żminijietna believes that a compromise can be reached but not at the expense of the public and biodiversity,” the group said in a statement.
“Hunting regulations and hours in public areas should be better regulated so that the public can enjoy the countryside, for the rest of the day.”
In a joint statement on Thursday, Alternattiva Demokratika and Partit Demokratiku criticised the government for giving away a massive tract of public land for political gain.
“This move shows the government's lack of respect towards the public and is just another cynical vote-buying exercise by a party which has been rendered into an unprincipled and unashamedly opportunist organisation,” they said.
Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, which is also part of the Spazji Miftuħa coalition, condemned the move and said the FKNK posed as an NGO but did not contribute towards the betterment of Malta for everyone.
“FKNK is a self-benefitting NGO that promotes the narrow interests of its own members. Furthermore, for way too long, il-Miżieb and l-Aħrax have only been available to a select group of FKNK members,” the said.
“The signing of this secret contract in such haste points to political agendas. FAA maintains that the contract should not be signed until a land survey of the location and dimensions of the sites, includes a record of the plantings and habitats, as well as the rights, restrictions and responsibilities of the parties involved.”