Activists on Saturday demanded urgent reform of planning and environmental institutions,  ahead of a national protest against overdevelopment to be held next week.

In a demonstration outside the Planning Authority in Floriana on Saturday, activists gathered holding placards saying ‘xebbajtuna’ ("we’ve had enough") as a number of speakers explained the reasons why the groups are calling for a national protest. 

Moviment Graffiti activist Andre Callus said the call of “xebbajtuna” is no longer just coming from the same circle of activists but from normal people, who can no longer stand and watch their country being destroyed. 

“We have good reason to protest the rate at which the country is being built up, because the way it is being done is obscene,” he said. “Next Saturday, people will have the opportunity to fight for their country and not let greed win.”

Din l-Art Ħelwa president Alex Torpiano noted court judgments have slapped down certain planning decisions and there are clear signs that the country’s economy should not rely on the construction sector.

Despite that, politicians and the PA have not changed their attitudes favouring developers, he said.

Torpiano said that DLĦ receives requests for help to fight planning projects every day from people all over the country and from all walks of life.

“People are turning to NGOs because they know that their politicians are only hearing one voice in this fight,” he said.  “These are people who live in areas in which they have invested their savings and it is not right that for the profit of a few individuals the existing communities must suffer.” 

Next Saturday’s protest, he continued, is a message to politicians who are only hearing from developers who want larger and taller buildings and who want to develop greater tracts of land with the excuse that development is the motor that keeps the country’s economy running. 

Truly sustainable development was not Limited to “solar panels and double glazing”, he said.

“We need a radical change. We need politicians to say loud and clear that the best interests of the community are more important than those of landowners,” Torpiano continued. 

“We need to once and for all put a stop to the philosophy that every individual has a right to build. The right to build can only be given by the community and for the betterment of the community.” “We left things in the hands of the politicians who are supposed to represent us through entities like the PA. They have not served us as it was their duty to and so now there is a strong need for a different planning model,” he concluded. 

Academic Maria Attard noted the strains that Malta’s growing population and urban development have had on car use, waste, emissions and pressure on infrastructure.

“To manage this change, you have to have solid plans and systems of government that are built on what is agreed on by the many and not the few and that leaves nobody behind,” she said. 

“If this does not happen you will have chaos and in chaos, abuse reigns.” 

Speakers included (from left, front) Alex Torpiano, Andre Callus, Ann Bugeja and Maria Attard. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

“Land is so precious because it is a scarce resource in Malta and no infrastructure or engineering can solve this scarcity without us paying bitter consequences on our environment and mental health,” she said. 

She called for more investment in research and evaluation of the country's challenges to maintaining a good quality of life. 

Ramblers Association president Ingram Bondin said what is happening to Malta’s environment was no accident.

“This is happening because the institutions that are supposed to take care of the environment in the interest of the community are bowing their heads to politicians and the rich,” he said. 

“Our country has ended up with no defence against those who are ready to destroy it to sate their thirst for power and money.” 

Bondin said activists want the Lands Authority to assure that public land is used for the good of the people and not to be gifted to developers on the cheap. Additionally, the Planning Authority should apply the rules correctly and respect towns and the countryside instead of ruining them without a thought. The Planning Tribunal, he added, should stop allowing developers to wreak destruction and then decide on an appeal after the fact. The same applies to the Environment Resources Authority and the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, he said. 

“This evil is only possible because of the interference of politicians with regulatory authorities, who seek only to win votes and accommodate those who pay donations to political parties,” he said. 

Friends of the Earth activist Ann Bugeja also spoke how about how overdevelopment has negatively impacted Malta’s biodiversity while Għawdix member Stanley Portelli described how Gozo’s landscape is also falling victim to this phenomenon and called on fellow Gozitans to stand up and be counted. 

The national protest is set to take place next Saturday at 10.30 am from the Valletta city gate.