It was in July 1969 that Peter Richardson penned an article in the prestigious Architectural Review entitled ‘Rape of a Village’.

To the shame of all stakeholders – most of all the government – Richardson was referring to new streets which were being built in the village cores of Żurrieq, Qrendi, Mqabba and Żebbuġ, which destroyed the texture and townscape of four typical Maltese villages.

In the same year, Quentin Hughes foresaw that Malta was “in danger of losing in one generation what was gained in nine centuries” (Fortress, 1969:276).

Imagine what these gentlemen would say if they were to visit Malta today.

There are few – poets and historians – among us who, every now and then, suggest that certain expressions in our national anthem should be removed.

The tragedy is that, now, we have several fat cats who, with impunity, shamelessly and without any qualms of conscience do not give a damn about the opening verse of this anthem, “Lil din l-art ħelwa, l-Omm li tatna isimha” (to this sweet land, the mother that gave us her name).

Instead of respecting this mother of ours, they have raped her. Worse than heinous pimps, they have betrayed and prostituted her for the proverbial “30 pieces of silver”.

It is poignantly cynical that high ranking state and parastatal institutions, politicians of all hues, civil servants, professionals – who are trained, and duty bound, to protect and defend natural and man-made beauty – are, by commission or omission, together with landowners, part of all this butchery.

Parliament (yes, I mean the government and members on both sides of the House), the Planning Authority and the Environment and Resources Authority all want us to believe the unbelievable. Either by hiding behind legal loopholes or by creating them, they are – at least silently – approving this rape.

With apologetic discourse, they pull the wool over the eyes of a politically blinded or an egoistic ‘John Citizen’. This they are doing by consent or silence, latently and, sometimes, manifestly.

Several seem to be too busy minding their own business – excuse the pun. After all, as the saying goes, “he who pays the piper, calls the tune”. Those in authority sometimes share the bed of those who euphemistically call themselves “developers” while they are in fact destroying our country in a way worse than enemies at war have ever done.

One organisation cynically calls itself the “developers’ association” when it would be more appropriate to call itself the demolishers’ association. Unless, of course, they refer to the development of their finances. 

Malta has been colonised by them and, in line with a colonial frame of mind, they are not ashamed to exploit its best but limited resources.

There are sinners by commission and also by omission, perhaps going to Mass saying mea culpa and rightly mea maxima culpa. They defend themselves under the cover of political correctness, fatalism, passivity or egoistic pragmatism. They tell us: “it’s useless, stupid.”

One organisation cynically calls itself the developers’ association when it would be more appropriate to call itself the demolishers’ association- Fr Joe Inguanez

They might be ready to softly praise the heroic and consistent efforts of environmental NGOs such as Din l-Art Ħelwa, Friends of the Earth, Nature Trust and Tuna Artna Lura. However, when it comes to standing up to be counted, it’s another matter, more of a case of the proverbial three monkeys.

These people hardly ever join any protest organised by such NGOs or support them in the press or social media and much less do they support them financially. They simply perpetuate the “Maltese gemgem” syndrome. So long, of course, as it is not in their backyard.

In every democracy, John and Mary Citizen must be ready to raise their voice, put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard and to take an active part in protests if necessary. When citizens use their voice only through their vote at the general election, they become like turkeys voting for Christmas.

In fairness, the ERA and few others have sometimes objected to a request for the sanctioning of several illegalities on a site outside the development zone. However, the result is yet more proof that the ERA’s objections are not enough.

To quote Dante, the ERA has become “an enemy of God and of His enemies”. It’s high time that someone puts their foot down and says “enough is enough” and does the right thing.

It is beyond belief that in just seven years the PA has received 71 applications for the building or extension of sheep farms. Of these applications, 30 were approved, 12 were rejected, 21 are still pending, while eight have been withdrawn.

The question is: how many Maltese or Gozitans are ready to leave the job and turn to rearing sheep? Or are the applicants assuming the right to import cheap foreign labour? Or shall we expect them “to go bankrupt” and then apply for change of use?

Illegal works continue despite several enforcement notices and without permission from the cultural heritage watchdog. We have it from the ERA, which said it was “increasingly concerned with the malpractice of first carrying out ODZ development abusively and subsequently expecting the regulatory authorities to retroactively rubber-stamp a fait accompli”. 

What are Prime Minister Robert Abela and Opposition leader Bernard Grech doing to give the ERA more clout?

It would be justified to change the meaning of the acronym ODZ from “Outside Development Zone” to “Others’ Development Zone”.

I cannot help but repeat Wordsworth’s heartache: “Have I not reason to lament, what man has made of man?”

Fr Joe Inguanez is the National Chaplain of ZĦN, Young Christian Workers and Students, and a sociologist.