Paul Buttigieg was on the Qala church parvis, watching feast enthusiasts carry the statue of the parish patron saint out of the church when he first received news that the locality’s quaint creek was being turned into a marina.
“It was around 8.05pm, when an acquaintance called me and put his phone against the TV set so that I could hear, over the loud music, Ruth Amaira reading the evening news,” he recalls of summer 2002.
“Back then it was still known as the Qala Creek project, and I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. The project made headline news on the feast day of our patron saint St Joseph.”
Initially, opinion about the development was mixed, but Buttigieg was convinced it would not benefit the majority.
Buttigieg, relatives and a group of residents set off knocking on doors asking Qala people what they thought, and the response was overwhelmingly against the project.
Soon after, in a local council ‘referendum’, 84.5 per cent of residents voted against the project, sealing Buttigieg’s conviction once and for all and leading him to help set up Moviment Ħarsien Ħondoq.
Hostility from all fronts
But he had no idea what he was in for. For years, Buttigieg faced hostility from all fronts, including developers, politicians from either side, businesspeople, the authorities and people who claimed his fight will cost them an income.
“Through it all, I kept in mind the advice my late grandfather Ġużepp Xerri had given me – that before I do whatever I plan on doing, I need to understand whether this will benefit just myself or the rest of society.
“These values were passed down to my mother Ġemma and father Patrick – they never had the ‘I’m alright, Jack’ attitude that is so widespread today.”
Buttigieg admits that the battle to save Ħondoq became a family affair, with his wife Carmen and their children supporting his every step, and, as a result, suffering the tribulations that it brought with it, sometimes even “keeping the family up at night”.
'Happy to have helped preserve a legacy'
His battle, also fronted by several activists and NGOs, did not stop at putting up a fight with the proposed development, which came to an end last week when a planning tribunal shot down the Gozo Prestige Hotels’ appeal. For over a year now, Buttigieg has been calling for Ħondoq to be declared public domain.
He adds he is glad that Ħondoq’s plight was also officially recognised by the Labour Party, of which he forms part, and the bay’s safeguarding made it into the party’s manifesto.
At 59, Buttigieg feels “tired but pleased at the legacy I helped preserve for future generations and I’ve put behind me any past grievances”.
“I’m now at peace with myself – I have managed to do something for the greater good, something that my grandparents and parents always urged me to do.”