I am sitting at my desk gazing upon a tree that is doomed to die, a four-storey tree in the heart of Sliema, populated by birds singing merrily in their nests.

It is doomed to die because it does not belong to a rare species, even though its sheer height, in my opinion, makes it rare indeed in a town where trees and gardens have been eradicated for speculative purposes.

Speculation, aided by the infamous authority that has condemned it to die in favour of yet another set of apartments, has taken over all sense of beauty in this country.

This massacre is aided by unimaginative architects who do not know how to construct or integrate beauty but think of functionality and easy corner-cutting to make a fast buck.

The excuse that a tree is not rare is what ‘justified’ the barbaric chopping of trees from Attard to Rabat – uglifying the whole landscape in the name of ‘progress’.

A foreign friend living in Malta recently told me: the Maltese cannot bear to see trees, they are obsessed with removing them to have a ‘clean’ area.

I counter that argument by contending that Maltese speculators will not let trees stop them from making their millions, and in this, they are aided and abetted by the very authorities who should be protecting the trees, the buildings, us and our health, from these predators.

The latest example of our authorities’ corrupt practices is the release of the permit to build 179 flats in Qala on fertile green farmland.

This speculation, described as a ‘giant project’, was intentionally distorted from the outset.

It was based on a huge lie revealed by Times of Malta: “According to Land Registry records, the applicants were not the ‘sole owner’ of the site as they had declared.”

Instead of stopping this deceit, the very authority that was supposed to protect the site approved it. Instead of taking the cheats to court, the whole massacre of fertile farmland has been given the blessing of the so-called authority.

It seems that this authority plans more to help some people line their pockets than to protect our islands’ natural beauty. And now, it is up to an NGO and a determined local council to fight what naturally should never have been approved.

It seems that this authority plans more to help some people line their pockets than to protect our islands’ natural beauty- Vicki Ann Cremona

The ‘self-made businessman’ behind this latest scandal – as Joseph Portelli likes to call himself – was appropriately described by The Shift as the person “who has become notorious under a Labour government for illegalities never addressed by law enforcement authorities and a string of controversial planning permits”.

Portelli’s accumulation of wealth has been given a huge helping hand by a complacent authority and an approving government. But the man also happens to be one of Joseph Muscat’s cronies, and therefore, Muscat’s puppet, Abela, will do nothing to stop him.

And let us not forget, Muscat wanted to allow the so-called American ‘University’ of Malta to build land in a green area. He also wanted to allow it to ruin the Cottonera waterfront by Dock 1 – by building steel and glass structures in the only open community spaces, and even building on and destroying heritage buildings and archeological remains.

Our greedy speculators have now also invaded the sea, setting out to ruin beaches such as Balluta Bay… others will follow suit.

The Sliema tree has been temporarily saved thanks to COVID-19. As I look at it I feel so sad at the way we Maltese are resigned to allowing this poverty and deprivation of nature to set in at the hands of unscrupulous money-spinners, and what legacy we will be leaving to our children – a trail of ugliness and concrete buildings because too few have had the courage to rise up and stop this vandalism in the name of ‘progress’.

Our prime minister would attract attention and sympathy if he sought other avenues to generate national wealth than simply building, tourism, and passports.

So wake up, Prime Minister, remove the strings that are manipulating you and start defending us, normal Maltese citizens, who are asking for justice, fairness and the preservation of our land, rather than the whole gang that has soiled the name of the Partit Laburista and is bent on uglifying our country physically and morally.

Vicki Ann Cremona is an academic, former ambassador and president of NGO Repubblika.