It is time that BirdLife Malta and hunters lobbies such as the Federazzjoni Kaccaturi Nassaba Konservazzjonisti (FKNK) and Kaccaturi San Umbertu (KSU) find a middle ground so that they can co-exist together, PN and PL candidates said on Friday morning at a debate organised by BirdLife Malta.

“There should be space for hunters and trappers who follow the law to carry out their hobby; the crusade being conducted by both sides is mistaken and [hunters and environmentalists] need to find space to live in co-existence”, Labour MEP and MEP candidate Alfred Sant said when asked about his views on trapping.

Peter Agius and Frank Psaila, both PN MEP candidates, meanwhile had similar stances, with Agius saying that ways needed to be found for BirdLife, the FKNK and KSU to collaborate for sustainability, and also for the usage of EU funds for measures such as the reintroduction of other species. 

Psaila meanwhile said that he does not agree with stopping hunting, noting that there are thousands of hunters and trappers who want to practice their hobby and that they should have the environment and regulatory framework to help them.  He said that he agrees with coexistence, as without it no point of convergence will ever be reached.

These views were, however, not shared by PD’s Anthony Buttigieg, who said that he is against spring hunting, or, more so, by AD’s Carmel Cacopardo, who took the two main parties to task for their views on hunting.

“By definition spring hunting is not sustainable and I will make no compromises on it”, the AD Chairman and MEP candidate said before noting that derogations are used for small catches in specific cases such as trapping birds for research purposes or clearing birds from around an airport for safety reasons. 

Moderated by BirdLife Malta’s Communications Officer Nathaniel Attard, the debate saw the participation of Labour candidates Alfred Sant and Robert Micallef, Nationalist candidates Peter Agius and Frank Psaila, Partit Demokratiku candidate Anthony Buttigieg, and Alternattiva Demokratika candidate Carmel Cacopardo.

Hunting was, naturally, on the agenda, but a variety of other environmental subjects were put onto the table of discussion as well, based on a questionnaire that BirdLife Malta sent out to all 41 MEP candidates, of which only six replied.

Asked about the need for a better air quality, Buttigieg spoke of the need to reduce the pollution of cruise ships when they are in port.  He noted that none of these ships are connected with Malta’s electricity grid when they are in port and that they instead rely on their own heavy fuel oil engines for power, hence making them one of the biggest sources for carbon dioxide emissions that the country has.  He said that other countries oblige cruise liners to either connect to the electricity grid so that they can turn off, or at least limit, their engine usage when in port.

The Gozo tunnel was another major point of discussion which saw all the panellists spar over the issue.  The biggest bone of contention with the tunnel has been that both the major parties voted in favour of it in Parliament without knowing what the impact studies that are being carried out will eventually say.

 

Micallef said that the Labour party sees Gozo as a model for best practice and noted that the party’s manifest includes a full section for the sister island.  He spoke in favour of having a permanent link as this alleviates a number of connectivity related issues.  He did sound a warning about the potential maintenance costs of the project, but noted that the necessary studies are happening and that the most important ones are the ones which emerge while the development is underway.

Independent MEP candidate Arnold Cassola, who was in the audience, latched onto this point later, questioning whether we truly knew the risks of the tunnel to places such as the Simar and Ghadira nature reserves, and noting that reports cannot be read while the building is going on but must be considered beforehand.

Psaila meanwhile defended the PN’s decision to vote in favour of the project and PN Leader Adrian Delia’s declaration in a debate on Thursday that the party would wait for the publication of the studies before making its final views clear, saying that the PN agrees with the principle of having a permanent link but will insist for the full studies to be published so to get to know the impact of the project.

He also noted that Gozitans cannot keep waiting for this permanent link and that in the meantime short term measures such as the fourth ship and a fast ferry service have to be implemented.

The candidates from the two smaller parties once again differed from their labour and nationalist counterparts, with Buttigieg saying that the Gozo tunnel is a mistake and that there should be investment to see that Gozo becomes a centre for work and education.

Cacopardo also spoke of the negative effects of the tunnel, saying that car movement between Malta and Gozo will triple.

Giving his closing reactions to the debate, BirdLife Malta CEO Mark Sultana said that the biggest challenge is that politicians are not well-informed on environmental matters.

He invited the FKNK and KSU for a joint discussion to tackle common ground, namely hunting illegalities, but noted that while the candidates from the two main parties were putting pressure on them to meet up – they too should sit down and discuss their common ground on the environment.

“We need more people with a backbone on the natural environment; we cannot speak of balance – we have spent 50 years killing the environment, now we need 50 years to protect it”, Sultana pleaded.