Updated 5.20pm with hunters reaction
Conservationists have taken to the courts in a bid to block the handing over of the government’s anti-poaching unit to the Gozo Ministry.
Addressing reporters outside the court, Birdlife Malta chief executive Mark Sultana said that his organisation filed a judicial protest after Prime Minister Robert Abela passed responsibility for the Wild Birds Regulation Unit to Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri, himself a registered bird trapper.
Mr Sultana said that although Mr Camilleri was given political responsibility of the WBRU, there was no legal remit for the takeover.
According to the Environment Protection Act, the WBRU falls under the Environment Ministry.
This, Mr Sultana said, meant that even if Mr Camilleri had been handed the WBRU, he would not be able to take any legal decisions.
The decision meant Mr Camilleri would continue to be responsible for the sector, as he was when he was parliamentary secretary within the Ministry for the Environment.
Gozo has a high proportion of hunters, and they tipped the balance in favour of the yes vote when the spring hunting referendum was held in 2015.
It was surprising that the move was taken by a Prime Minister who was also a lawyer and should have a good understanding of how the law worked, Mr Sultana said.
The judicial protest filed on Wednesday was the opening salvo of court action, and Mr Sultana said he did not rule out a full-blown court case to stop the move.
Hunters in angry reaction
In a strongly-worded reaction, the Hunters' Federation (FKNK) accused BirdLife of arrogance and pointed out that ever since the 1970s the department responsible for the environment had been manned by the founders, secretaries, activists and supporters of BirdLife and its predecessor the Malta Ornithological Society.
This led one to wonder whether BirdLife no feared it would lose influence, such as in the bird-ringing sector, the FKNK said.
The federation said minister Clint Camilleri had shown, for as long as he had been responsible for the sector, that despite BirdLife's claims, he acted responsibly and impartially.
The country should no longer fear the threats made by organisations such as BirdLife, which sought to harm the country if they did not get their way, the federation said.