Hunting lobby says it secured legal amendments from agriculture minister
The lobby said it was confident its concerns had been listened to
The hunting and trapping lobby has said it secured amendments to recently announced regulations curbing recreational use of agricultural land in a meeting with the agriculture minister.
The lobby did not provide details on the amendments it had proposed, however.
In a statement, the Federation for Hunting and Conservation (FKNK) said it met with Agriculture Minister Anton Refalo and a delegation from the ministry, with whom it reached an agreement to both parties’ mutual satisfaction.
“Therefore, the concerns of the FKNK will be addressed by the ministry through adequate and just amendments before these regulations come into force,” the federation said.
On Wednesday, the lobby slammed regulations that require landowners to register their farmland or risk having it reassigned to a registered farmer as "undemocratic, almost dictatorial".
The government says all registered farmland should be cultivated at once a year, with the new regulations drafted in a bid to safeguard arable land.
Any unregistered farmland could be taken over by the government and reassigned to a farmer to cultivate, until the owner makes him or herself known.
Should the rightful owner of the land later come forward, the land will be returned to them following the reimbursement to authorities of associated costs.
The regulations also ban advertising agricultural land for any other use.
The group thanked Refalo, “who during the meeting heard and understood the concerns of the FKNK”.
The lobby told Times of Malta that while it was still awaiting a reply in writing from the ministry, it was confident its concerns had been listened to. Details on amendments proposed by the group were not available.
A spokesperson for the federation stressed the proposed regulations in their original form would infringe on private landowners’ right to use their land as they see fit, within the confines of the law.
Reacting to the announcement earlier this week, the FKNK said: "Private property is sacred under the law. It grants the owner legal rights over the acquired resource".