An environment parliamentary committee debate on the Bulebel industrial development expansion was derailed after Partit Demokratiku’s Marlene Farrugia insulted Parliamentary Secretary for agriculture Clint Camilleri by calling him a “gbejna” (traditional local goat’s cheese).
Camilleri hit back with an equally baffling response when he said that Farrugia’s remark was aimed at Gozitans. Committee chairman Alex Muscat requested a ruling on the matter from the Speaker of the House, who said he will look into the footage of the debate.
The environment committee was discussing the Bulebel industrial zone expansion upon the request of Godfrey and Marlene Farrugia.
Controversy has erupted after plans to extend the Bulebel industrial estate onto agricultural land were announced. The land in question was earmarked for possible industrial development by a PN government in 2006.
Olive and carob trees are found in part of the land, which is also used for the production of honey and grapes.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat recently announced that a significant part of the land will not be developed and the government will ensure its protection, while multiple studies will be made on the rest of the land to see whether building there would be viable.
PN environment spokesperson Jason Azzopardi slammed the government for only speaking out about conducting studies at this stage, when it has been in power for six years and has been making plans for the Bulebel area for some time. He also criticised the PM for saying that the entire land would be considered for development, and only bothered about carrying out studies after people expressed serious concerns.
A Malta Industrial Parks representative pointed out that when the PN government of the day signed a legal notice to allow the land in question to be considered for development, this in itself was a contradiction because part of the land is a valley protected area of ecological importance.
The debate then turned on Azzopardi, who was accused of signing the contradictory legal notice. The MP said he could not remember this since a long time had passed.
Environment Minister Jose Herrera gave assurances that Wied iz-Zring will not be touched, neither would any other land in the vicinity with significant historical value. He said that after the 2006 government had placed the land on a ‘white zone’, meaning to be considered for industrial development, the government of the day wound up with its “back to the wall” due to the high number of requests by factories for land to build on. He said that the government looked at all the land available to be developed at law, and made considerations based on that.
He said that when government announced this possibility, people were outraged at the agricultural land take-up. Herrera added that “this is a government that listens”, so it was decided that three-quarters of the land supposed to be considered will no longer be considered. The remainder will be studied based on various impact assessments such as environmental, social, traffic impact and more. Based on the outcome and the feedback from a public consultation, a decision will then be taken.
The PM said on Sunday that the government is also open to other suggestions.
Economy Minister Chris Cardona said that government needs to accommodate all those who received a letter of intent, and on top of that there are various companies “in the queue” at Malta Enterprise. He said his ministry discussed with the Environment ministry for the best solutions, and conceded that less land would be marked for development consideration.
Rueben Abela from the Wirt iz-Zejtun NGO gave an impassioned speech in favour of protecting the entire agricultural zone. One resident called out the “madness” of carrying out impact assessments on the site in question and ignoring what the “area of influence” which has a big ecological impact on the site in question.
It was decided that another committee session would be taken up to discuss the matter.