There was a time when Pretty Bay was pretty indeed and Wied il-Buni, Kalafrana, Benghisa and Wied ix-Xoqqa were a sight to behold.

There was a time when Delimara,especially l-Hofra z-Zghira was a  very popular breathtakingly beautiful beach.

And there was also a time when Wied Fulija and its sprawling expanse of ecologically unique garigue were resplendent with countless species of fauna and flora competing for a spot... with  tadpoles  gliding away and half-baked frogs hopping around frantically like there was no tomorrow. 
I remember a time when my little southernmost fishing village was separated from its neighbouring even smaller villages by endless carpets of gold and rubies... Lellux and Silla... interspersed with ancient rubble walls made of even more ancient multicoloured moss and lichen  clad stone delineating the well tilled fields.

The  dusty nettle and cape sorrell lined foot paths had fig trees and prickly pears  as well as the occasional mulberry and carob to help assert their existence...
Thinking about this particular treasure throve I was so lucky to enjoy ,makes me pine even more for the good and simple life, the clean  air perfused with the delicate scent of thyme and caper flower and the beautiful ladybirds and colourful butterflies...

At least I am comforted by a memory... A memory denied to my children, their generation and those generations to follow...

Within the time span of a quarter of a century, all this beauty was literally wiped out. Rolling hillsides and agricultural  land was devoured by urban sprawl  leaving no characterising or buffering  space between one old settlement and another. Landmark ancient architectural gems even within the village core were relentlessly destroyed to make space for modern buildings which to this day seem to be  losing the painful struggle to fit in...
Wied Fulija was  condemned to being buried alive by a Labour administration who chose it to become the landfill  for everything and anything and turned the regal country paths into litter ridden rat infested passages, and as if the humiliation of the area wasn't enough... the uncontrolled mizbla smouldered constantly  and unashamedly turning our healthy sea  air into a stinking poisonous choking gas.

Winters were bad but the searing August heat made hell out of the inferno. In the meantime the onslaught on Birzebbuga started under the same administration. While a PN government closed the landfill at Wied Fulija with promises of eventual rehabilitation, it enlarged the Freeport even towards the residential side, with residents to this day exposed continuously to light and sound pollution and their bay views reduced to bitter memories. Marsaxlokk, the other unique fishing village in the south wasn't spared the block either. Picturesque Delimara was handpicked to permanently host the power station and its noxious fumes and hazardous waste, Benghisa honoured with the gas installations, Kirkop with another gas factory, and Safi and Hal-Far together with Birzebbuga loaded with the responsibility of the human tragedy that each and every irregular immigrant personifies.

As if all this carnage of these beautiful seaside villages wasn't enough, we are in the process of being crowned with an onshore regassification unit next to the power station with the associated risk, as well as a massive unsightly LNG storage contraption in Marsaxlokk bay, all with the blessing of the local council. When I asked Papadakis face to face if an FSRU outside the bay would have provided a better solution, he summarily replied that studying  the FSRU alternative was not in his remit.

It is with a heavy heart and a deep sense of melancholy and  failure that I have to bear witness to the further degradation of  my constituency. The refreshing view from the cliffs overlying the Blue Grotto has also been spoiled for years now by the incessant presence of oil rigs parked in the area.... and the sacred land surrounding our Megalithic temples marred by the unsightly visitors' centre that seals the holy mess in the locality...

Through all this ill-treatment of their environment, the residents invariably suffered in silence , many times even reacting angrily when someone like me tries to raise awareness, at least to respect the defenceless children who have no voice and are unknowingly being cheated of their natural heritage  and their  patrimony. No government has as yet implemented any mitigating measures or extra embellishment projects for the locality save for a short stint during Alfred Sant's tenure. The football grounds, waterpolo pitches are underway its true , but Qajjenza needs a proper facelift and so does the rest of this Southern area. The Local Councils should be furnished with extra funds to at least attempt to neutralise the  negative environmental impact sustained.

In the meantime I will dream on till we rid ourselves of this holy mess... I will dream on till the day when all our industrial activity is moved offshore to an artificial island on Hurd’s Bank... perhaps... and Wied ix-Xoqqa and Wied il-Buni  will dazzle once again.

Marlene Farrugia is a Labour MP