A small group or people gathered in Gozo on Sunday for the third time in a few months to show their continued opposition to the growing construction frenzy on the island.
Carrying placards reading "You've destroyed the diamond in the middle of the island," and "Stop destroying Gozo," around 30 people of mixed ages and nationalities united in Victoria, to call for an end to unregulated overdevelopment on the island.
Credit: Catherine CamilleriA recent report shows that roughly 300 development applications are pending on the island, with NGOs warning Gozo has become the target of unfettered development.
One of the protesters, Catherine Camilleri, 26 from Għajnsielem, told Times of Malta she was tired of the Planning Authority's voice drowning out that of Gozitans.
"Gozitans must realise they have a say in what happens to our island and that rampant construction is not sustainable here," she said.
The protest, supported by NGO Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar (FAA), forms part of a swelling grassroots movement resisting the development threatening Gozo.
FAA coordinator Astrid Vella, explained that while construction on the island had been picking up steam for the last 10 years, in the last four years it had almost doubled.
Development applications on the island increased from 787 in 2016 to 1,314 in 2020, 17% of them on ODZ land, leaving Gozitans no other choice but to protest
Vella said.
“Gozitans are closely attached to their islands' iconic landscapes and it hurts them deeply to see them ruined,” she added.
“The Gozitan skyline is no longer dominated by beautiful churches but by abusive huge blank walls as facilitated by the infamous Annexe 2 regulation, which the government steadfastly refuses to dismantle,” she explained.
Annex 2 in policy DC2015 has stretched the height limitations upwards so that five floors can be allowed in a three-floor residential zone.
Revoking Annex 2 remains among eNGOs’ most important campaign because of its damaging impact on Malta and, especially, Gozo, Vella said.
Credit: Catherine Camilleri