The recent initiative embarked upon by the Gozo regional council, spearhead by council president Samuel Azzopardi and by veteran environmental advocate and mayor of Qala, Paul Buttigieg, to bring the plight of Gozo’s natural and urban landscapes to the fore is inspirational, to say the least.
The initiative saw them even meet up with President George Vella earlier this week after scheduling meetings with the Planning Authority and the environment minister. Property development magnates, some of whom are Gozitan themselves (Joseph Portelli, to mention but one, but also road construction tycoons such as Victor Hili), must be laughing their head off at observing this initiative from a distance, snug in their knowledge that the current firmament cannot be disrupted in any way, given the sheer economics of the stakes.
As the Malta Developers’ Association (MDA) constantly reminds us in a punctilious manner, property sales are buoyant and Gozo is bearing part of this brunt of an increased demand for affordable property, possibly as a result of the current restrictions on international travel imposed by the prevailing pandemic.
An increased demand for property is only part of the driving force behind the heightened constructions rates in Gozo, given that the island is plagued by a surfeit of unsold properties. While Azzopardi and Buttigieg are to be commended for fronting this heart-rendering appeal to the relevant institutions, it is hard to fathom how the current onslaught of approved apartment blocks within Gozitan towns and villages can be stemmed, given the willingness by the Gozitan owners of the plots hosting such eyesores to sell the same land and given the demand by Maltese customers of property at non-prohibitive prices.
Against such a sobering backdrop, the calls for Gozo to focus on agritourism projects rings hollow, given that the landscapes Gozo is renowned for are being disfigured beyond recognition. Gozo is slowly but surely being transformed from a presepju (crib) into a maqjel (sty), courtesy of those vultures moving in to make a killing and those in authority who are unable or unwilling to do anything about it.
The frugal versus the extravagant approach to road infrastructure
The Qormi local council hogged the headlines earlier this week by putting its money where its mouth is and commissioning a private architectural firm to concoct alternative flyover design plans for the Mrieħel bypass to those proposed last year by Infrastructure Malta. Most significantly, the alternatives peddled by the Qormi local council allegedly do not encroach over agricultural land, a sea change when compared to the extensive footprint over farmland of the IM plans (reputed to consist of a six-metre-wide belt along the entire extent of the existing Mrieħel bypass). No feedback to date has been forthcoming from IM, with the exception of a further request for a 2048 projection of traffic impact.
The fact that the Qormi local council has a Labour majority should send a strident message to Infrastructure Malta- Alan Deidun
The latter request is somewhat anomalous, given the disparity in funds and profile of the two sides, with Goliath IM currently managing a budget of at least €700 million and the Qormi local council, sailing an already tight ship, even struggling to manage the €5,000 fee associated with the alternative flyover plans design.
The fact that the Qormi local council has a Labour majority should send a strident message to IM, namely that a non-partisan majority out there abhors further encroachment on agricultural land at the behest of poorly-justified road-widening projects. Bottom line is that the local council delivered the goods and IM has some explaining to do in order to justify its extravagant plans.
A concrete pathway to the sea
As if our infatuation with concrete, tarmac and asphalt in rural areas wasn’t enough, this fad has now been extended to coastal areas too or, rather, literally to the water’s edge, as has been the case at White Tower Bay (Ramla tat-Torri).
The access road meandering around the sand dune remnants backing the same beach, the most extensive on the island of Malta and, consequently, an area of ecological importance, has recently been resurfaced by IM, only for a make-shift concrete slipway of sorts to be laid directly on the sand at the very edge of the same resurfaced road.
The resulting uproar and outcry on social media once images of the same abusive pathway went viral seem to have bitten into tender flesh given that the same pathway was removed within a matter of days.
The Planning Authority intervened to have the pathway, presumably laid down by IM, removed, while Mellieħa local councillors, (e.g Gabriel Micallef) formally lodged complaints with the entities involved.
The only aspect we can be sure of are the effectiveness of grassroots campaigns, such as those constantly spawning on social media, in drawing the limelight to instances of environmental despoilment since it is not clear whether the concrete was laid on the sand out of sheer ignorance (of the ecological importance of the site and of the coast in general) or as a raspberry to environmental considerations altogether.
A great degree of professionalism and cognisance of the environmental legislation of this country is definitely in order for roadside contractors and authorities.