Swimming in a yacht marina

There's a very apt description for the Malta Maritime Authority's communications manager's reply to my criticism (December 17) of the planned Xemxija yacht marina: it is a typical "bureaucratic sop" that in no way answers the essentials of the posited criticism and just drones on with the official mantra; in this case "economic revival" and "improving facilities" (for whose real benefit is of course the essential question!).

Never in Charles Axisa's reply does one come across any reference to:

(1) The impact that the planned turning of the inner part of St Paul's Bay into a yacht marina will have on the swimmers and their families who for many, many years have enjoyed this part of the bay.

It is simply not enough for the MMA to boast of its (sic) "designated swimmers' zones around the Maltese islands" if it now is in precisely the process of destroying what - long before the MMA was born - was in fact already, for long decades, a swimmers' favourite haunt. The accusation is clear: with this project the MMA is riding roughshod over a public social interest element/amenity to satisfy the undoubted lobbying pressure coming from the yachting industry or fraternity.

It cuts no ice with many people to simply say that Marc Bonello's statements to The Times were simply "an affirmation of government policy". Countless indeed are the cases where governments, after "affirming" a policy, wisely realise that (at least in that format) such policies should be altered or abandoned. As Socrates held "wise indeed is he who changes his mind".

(2) Why Xemxija was chosen when (some were mentioned in my original letter) other bays - with probably the same intended capital outlays and speculative animus - could have served the same purpose.

Some infamous disasters to many boats which factually occurred in that bay from really ugly gregale winds should not be ignored. What about Mellieha Bay where there is much more space? What about the sheltered Sliema creek right up into Gzira? And there are probably other places too.

(3) The limits that the MMA poses to increases of yachting berths in Malta. When, hypothetically, Xemxija is full to capacity with the moneyed classes' big, bilging, space-occupying yachts, what then? Will the MMA/the yachting lobby eventually require every single bay in this small country to satisfy the few at the expense of the many?

The basic truth remains unchanged: where yachts are moved in, swimmers are simply forced out.