This is an excerpt from my Talking Point ‘Save Comino’, published in August 2008.
“There is no doubt in my mind that more could and should have been done over the last 50 years to protect Malta and Gozo from excessive construction. The environment is definitely an area that should bring a blush or more to many faces.
“For many years, we have only paid lip service to what is now called ‘sustainable development’ and vast tracts of our precious land have been irretrievably damaged. One could make a very lengthy list of eyesores some of which surely verge on the obscene. The magic balance between conservation and development continues to elude us.
“We can, I suppose, lay the blame for this state of affairs at the door of overzealous property developers and the various governments that sanctioned their activities. That the construction industry has benefited the Maltese economy to a certain degree is not denied, although many hold the view that the country has paid much too high a price in environmental damage.
“Surely our development could have taken place with more control, restraint, and above all, aesthetic sense. Malta has been badly scarred in many places.”
It’s been 15 years since I wrote that. A recent report in Times of Malta has alarmed me. It announced that the Planning Authority had approved the redevelopment of the former Comino Hotel by a larger edifice and also approved the replacement of the bungalows at Santa Marija Bay with a sprawling cluster of 19 (?) villas. If these villas are anything like what is shown in the photograph accompanying the latest article, I am completely lost for words.
I have a close affinity to Comino because my grandfather had leased the island in 1929 for 30 years and established The Comino Farming Company there. During this period not a single building was constructed, and the people could admire Comino in its natural beauty. It must have been truly spectacular.
When the lease expired in 1959, the government of the day leased a small part of the island around San Niklaw Bay to a John Gaul for 150 years for 100 pounds sterling yearly, for him to construct a relatively small hotel.
What a shame and a pity for present and future populations
That is when the unstoppable decline started and gathered pace over the years. A few years later the government leased another parcel of land around Santa Marija Bay for the construction of some bungalows.
In recent years the authorities stood by while the Blue Lagoon (undoubtedly one of our national jewels) was raped by hordes of vessels carrying thousands of tourists to this amazing bay.
As always happens in such cases, several vendors of food and drink followed suit and this lagoon was given its “coup de grace”. What a shame and what a pity for the present and future populations of our islands.
Let me quote but one example of how other countries look after their “jewels”.
The island of Lampedusa, which is only 100 kilometres away, is lucky to possess what is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful bays in the world ‒ Baia dei Conigli.
Allow me to mention a few of the measures taken to protect this gem. No boats or cars or kiosks are allowed to enter the bay and its surroundings. No more than 700 persons are allowed to swim there in any one day. I would not be at all surprised if more than 7,000 visitors swarm into our Blue Lagoon on every summer day.
Our political masters, who are ultimately responsible for this tragic situation, and who have the cheek to refer to our country as the “envy of Europe”, have failed miserably to prevent the over-commercialisation of our islands.
Where is the mythical balance between economic development and the protection of our environment?
Allow me to end my piece with a quote attributed to Bill Clinton, the former president of the United States of America, who once answered a question put to him with the words “It’s the economy, stupid”.
It looks like Malta has adopted the same mantra.
Tony Zammit Cutajar is a retired businessperson and a former Norwegian consul general.