The 18th of May marks the 10th anniversary since the passing away of Malta’s foremost environmentalist, Julian Manduca. A year before, on August 3rd, 2004, aged 52, Maggie Borg also lost her battle with cancer and left this earth a better place for all her commitment to the protection of the environment with Friends of the Earth (Malta) and Greenpeace Mediterranean.
Both activists faced hard battles on the environmental and on the political level. Their motivation was not political but in the national interest.
Julian was way ahead of his times in identifying the need to speak out and defend the countryside from property magnates and over commercialisation. He was both morally and physically committed to this endeavour and worked tirelessly to promote awareness of the importance of environmental issues and of organising or participating in protests when needed.
Maggie’s objectives were the promotion of recycling and clean energy and the preservation of nature in rural areas.
What would they have said and done about the threat facing the pristine land in the south of Malta for the purpose of building another university whose real patronage is questionable and of a new power station when we already have a new one and an interconnector? I have no doubt that immediate action would have been taken to protest both of these issues before it was too late and the damage done.
The years of ’76 – ’78 saw many protest meetings taking place by students who faced an uncertain future under Dom Mintoff who basically dismantled and scrapped the University of Malta and left students to struggle with the Student Worker Scheme. We, sixth form students, were more likely to plan a public meeting than we were to choose our favourite celebrity for MTV concerts. Not that we were without a music scene, but the concern was high, both for our education and for the land being lost.
Back once more under a labour government and the two issues, albeit under a different guise – being more sensitive to market pressures and public opinion – are before us again. Education and the Environment.
Who will speak out now? Friends of the Earth encompassed members from all spectrums of politics.
Many eNGOs have voiced their concern but is it enough? We are not only dealing here with the project itself, but also the way the Prime Minister, who is responsible for MEPA, is controlling and influencing factors that go together to favour his decisions. It is as though the board is presented with a fait accompli’ and has only to go through some motions to appear to be independent and impartial. We already saw this stealthy manouvre with the application for the tanker in Marsaxlokk Bay, where the PM informed the board that he would go ahead regardless of a negative decision.
All sorts of puerile excuses are being made to reject alternative sites or buildings. Mumblings about a final decision not having been taken yet are also wheeled out for the media. The fact is that the Jordanian company need to be awarded this project to build or it will cause embarrassment for the government of Joseph Muscat, to say the least. So it is useless to propose re-utilisation of existing buildings. Selecting a brown site may be a solution but will it meet the criteria for the future feasibility of the construction? Seaview or rusty tank view? Which do you think?
Farmers have not been consulted about it either. When there was a project in Rabat by Anglu Xuereb who wanted to build a Golf Course on the Verdala fields, extensive consultations with the farmers took place, with offers of financial compensation. Still, the approval was not found and in the end the whole thing was shelved amidst protests.
And what will come next if this project is allowed to go ahead on ODZ? What protection can Gozo expect? At times one is almost drawn to speculate that the degeneration of roads and buildings in Gozo is permitted to prevail, so that the saviour can then come in with another grand project, which will provide the funds needed to fix the roads and provide jobs when people are desperate. All hail the leader.
The proposed shooting range at Mosta, next door to Mount St Joseph retreat house is another scandal. During the spring hunting debate, the hunters argued that hobbies were under threat and people should be aware that they stood to lose their cherished sport. Well, we now have sport monopolising nature and the environment, wherever it suits and whenever. Aren’t those patrons who go to spend some contemplative time at Mount St Joseph entitled to their peace and quiet? Driven out of the countryside by the hunters, finding somewhere to be close to nature is a real scarcity in Malta. One of the few places reserved for this, is now to be bullied at home.
The bullying must stop. It is giving out the wrong message to society, hurting people and taking us back to the days of lawlessness. Will the Church battle of the ‘80s come again? For now the Church has been rather silent on the matter of Mount St Joseph but I believe that Archbishop Scicluna will not just sit this one out. Let us not forget that mega pig farm that got permission to be built under the nose of the Dar talProvidenza. Are these church institutions being targeted? Was someone asked to draw up a list of church property and locate the arable land around it for the sake of socialism?Is it a case of “Anything the church can do, I can do better”?
This week there was a group of Belgian students from Lycee Moliere who came to Malta on a tour. The first thing they wanted to do was to make their own way to Kalkara so that they could walk all the way to St. Thomas Bay. Which they did.In the heat. They walked through Xaghjra because they said it is an “authentic” place. I did not dare to inform them about the threat to the land being faced there.
What will be left for our tourists to see and experience in Malta and Gozo? Will it continue to be seen as a Catholic country or a Muslim one? With a Muslim university in a prime area and a shooting range near a church retreat house, one wonders.
We desperately need to get our voice back. Not least, for Julian and Maggie who strived to give us one.