After the question of asylum seekers, there is nothing that so exercises the Maltese mind than the issue of the environment.
In times like this when a big project with huge environmental implications is being forced through (site chosen, project materializes out of nowhere, foreign direct investment dangled before our eyes, the promise of investment in the investment-starved South), the state of the environment present and future has come to dominate the landscape.
Many government apologists have come forward, pointing out at the various environmental blunders of the PN years.
In his blog, Norman Vella quotes one such apologist who mentioned in quick order the golf course in Xaghra l-Hamra, the lemonade factory in Luqa agricultural land, the road which would cut right through the Ghadira natural reserve, the landfill next to Hagar Qim and Mnajdra, the golf course in Rabat, the cement factory in Siggiewi, and the Gozo airstrip as big environmental sins by the PN, only for Mr Vella to remark that while these were indeed proposed, not one of them materialized.
Of course, we can go on and on ad infinitum, each side blaming the other.
The fact is that over the past, say, 50 years, our countryside has shrunk by the greatest amount. Where before we had villages at some distance from each other, we now have a vast conurbation ranging from Zabbar in the South to Mosta and Naxxar. We did not need so vast a spread and in such a short space of time. Even today, a vast proportion of the built-up area is uninhabited either because of inheritance issues or because of derelict properties, or because they are unfit as a residence or because they have been newly built but cannot be sold or are finding it difficult to move on the market.
Shall we go again into the tormented issue of who is to blame for this?
There have been blunders and mistakes galore. The Rationalisation Exercise and, before that, the tampering with the Development Zone have increased the area open to development as did before it the creation of housing estates on the outskirts of towns and villages, many times on land whose owners are still awaiting the pittance they are given when their land is taken for 'a public purpose'.
The underlying message the public got was that if you have land and it is in an area which cannot be developed, you just hold on to it and wait for a change of government or two and somehow you will find a way of making money out of it.
Others just went ahead and laid waste the land by neglecting to farm it, by allowing it to get filled with rubbish, rubble and junk, and soon enough it would be declared a (new designation) Area of Containment on which a multitude of uses could be found, such as warehouses, etc through which money could be made.
The same jape happened in the case of farmhouses in the countryside where we had many claiming to be part-time farmers who just had to restructure their farmhouse because it was about to collapse. Just by accident, the new restored farmhouse gets a pool and perhaps more storeys and sleeping quarters.
Can we blame one government for this and not the other?
There is much to criticize in this American University plan that has surfaced out of nowhere.
It is good that after years of neglect the South is getting some attention. Here, Marsascala has grown and developed into a worse copy of Buġibba with infrastructure following the spread of development rather than the other way round.
The closure of the Jerma Palace Hotel and of other private sector ventures in the area (I refer to the cinema, for instance) should have shown us that for all the massive development, there was no matching basis for growth. As a result, the South languished and grew decrepit.
Add to that the fact that many infrastructural enterprises seemed to be built there, from the waste treatment plant, to the power station and its extension.
Yet the South has its share of good beaches and idyllic spots, although they sit cheek by jowl with a replica of the Armier illegality at San Tumas, etc.
It is also positive that another university is being added to the educational opportunities along with other (more reputable) universities like that of Leicester and Middlesex. There certainly is no lack of opportunities to learn, and we have not spoken of the coming educational tsunami in Gozo in the medical field.
But this new university seems to be aimed for foreign students who will require accommodation and other facilities.
The proponents have discarded the suggestion of focusing on existing and historical buildings in the area while it also seems that someone has decided that Fort Ricasoli, that jewel which is collapsing into the sea, is destined for the film industry.
Very close by there is SmartCity, whose two towers built so far have changed the landscape as seen from the Upper Barrakka. Much opposed by the Labour Opposition when proposed by the PN administration, its use has become rather hotchpotch, from a clinic to a university, to offices to restaurants, while Sundays offer a Carnival atmosphere with Family Days and children milling around.
It is still underdeveloped, I would say that 60 per cent of it has yet to be developed but my impression is that its development has been delayed. What is certainly delayed is the government's part of the commitment to build the infrastructure and roads leading to it, some 10 years delay at a guess.
So the coast from Ricasoli to Marsascala will now be mainly built. The removal of the stench and effluent from the Xghajra drainage outfall has actually kindled the developers' appetite, rather than encouraged people to appreciate nature in its untouched state.
It is very depressing to consider this and more. The conclusion which many, including me, are tempted to reach is that it is now too late to do anything. In this as in many other aspects we have irremediably compromised Malta's tiny environmental future and we will never climb out of this self-made hole. Instead of leaving our children with a better future, we will be leaving them a badly-damaged country with dysfunctions galore.
The most I can think of is an environmental pan-party conference which ultimately will draw up a wide and profound agreement on what will not be allowed any more in the future, whoever is in government.
But then I remember we have not been able to hold a Constitutional conference to put into practice what all sides agree on, which is still dead in the water.
The alternative is... the alternative government. It is good that the Nationalist Opposition has become far more vocal and steadfast on environmental issues but, rather than just opposing the government's plans for the Zonqor University, it should go one further and draw up a list of clear commitments to be implemented when in government.
The fact that at the recent hunting referendum the party leadership chose tactical electoral reasoning rather than a straight environmental choice puts what I have just said in some doubt, but there is always an opportunity to do better, I suppose.
As for the fight admirably put up by Marlene Farrugia yesterday, I can't see this yielding any results. This makes her battle, of course, even more admirable and her arguments more trenchant.
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