The inner turmoil engulfing the Nationalist Party has repercussions well beyond Pietà.
This does not necessarily stem from the fact that it is only the PN which can act as a strong counterweight to the government. But the fact is that presently all the media attention has been concentrated on the warring factions within the PN, with the result that other vital matters for the country pass unnoticed.
These days, the media spotlight is shining on the Facebook barbs being bandied between Nationalists and the smarmy smugness of the usual suspects. There are very precious few eyes on the ball – which is how so many national institutions and entities have become riddled with corruption.
Not even the bombshell news of the unearthing of the long-lost Vitals Memorandum of Understanding caused much of a ripple. Considering that the document provides crucial insight as to how our health service was sold down the river, it would be expected that it is more important than 24/7 coverage of the Nationalist bloodbath.
Then there is the wholesale destruction of whole swathes of our natural environment which is currently underway and is passing under the radar.
During the COVID lockdown, there was a welcome stay of execution of the endless construction projects and the long-awaited amended Fuel Station Policy which plugged the loopholes that have seen large ODZ areas being transformed into fuel stations and car washes.
Seeing the benefits of a cleaner, less-polluted, less crowded country, you’d have thought that we would not have returned to the previous frenetic and unsustainable pace of construction.
However, there has been no let-up and this time it is the national authorities that are ploughing ahead with projects which will have permanent and irreversible effects.
Only last week, the Planning Authority approved the take-up of a large area of agricultural land on the outskirts of Mdina and Rabat for a project of the Infrastructure Ministry.
Ostensibly, the main reason for this was the stabilisation of the unsound road which is definitely required. But the development did not stop there. The road was widened and a promenade was chucked in as a popular sweetener.
The archaeological studies were postponed to a time after the permit was approved. The architect in charge said it made no difference whether the studies were carried out before or after approval (begging the question of why they are ever carried out at all).
Earth, trees, flora and fauna are not interchangeable Lego bricks
Ancient trees will be ripped out but we were assured that saplings (arbuxelli) would be planted to make up for this. Only the saplings would be planted in the Ta’ Qali National Park.
Incidentally, the Ta’ Qali National Park has been designated for recreational use as far back as 2006 when it was included in the Local Plans for the area. Since then, it has been the subject of repeated press conferences where ministers with hands folded across their groins smile for the cameras after sticking the regulatory sapling in the soil.
So, trying to pass off compensation for a huge loss of ecosystems in Rabat by planting saplings in a totally different place in a project that was already announced with great fanfare, is really pathetic.
However this kind of approach is becoming the unsustainable and unscientific norm across the board. Government entities such as Infrastructure Malta have adopted a “cut and paste” approach to the environment, where whole ecosystems are destroyed as long as stringy saplings are planted “en masse” somewhere for the next press event.
This purely mathematical approach betrays a lack of scientific consideration for the intricate nature of ecological systems and biodiversity.
Earth, trees, flora and fauna are not interchangeable Lego bricks which can be uprooted from a certain environment and stuffed elsewhere to plug the minister’s voracious PR appetite. They are all unique, living components particularly suited to a specific habitat.
The Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) is not much help in this regard, having been reduced to the role of calculator, seeing how many trees are to be added to make up for those subtracted, according to their “formula”.
The same lack of interest was displayed in the case of the fuel station being relocated in the Gżira Public Garden.
The area was designated as a Tree Protection Area, which did not make a blind bit of difference – not even a whimper of protest from the main environmental agency – just a quick calculation of the number of replacement trees to be squashed in.
The rot goes deeper. The problem lies in the fact that if this approach continues to be followed, any form of environmental destruction will be allowed as long as it is “offset” by some form of alleged environmental improvement.
There are no authorities strong enough or willing enough to ensure that the “offsetting” is not just superficial green wash.
The massive projects being contemplated, such as the Malta-Gozo tunnel, will change the islands and the marine environment forever – not necessarily in a good way. It is very likely that the lure of environmental compensation – by way of nature reserves, landscaping and other schemes – will be thrown in to make it palatable.
And there is no way we are guaranteed that the havoc which will inevitably be brought to bear upon the environment will be offset by any other measures.
The prospects of the long-term repercussions on the islands are far more worrying than the chaos at Pietà.