A few days have passed since, in an interview published in The Malta Independent on Sunday, BirdLife highlighted the anomaly that exists in matters related to hunting.

BirdLife president Daryl Grima and CEO Mark Sultana pointed out that the ministry which is responsible for hunting – which is officially called the Ministry for Gozo and Planning – needs the assent of the Ministry for the Environment for any decisions related to killing and trapping birds.

They explained that, by law, all legislation related to hunting falls under the responsibility of the Environment Ministry. This means that, whatever Clint Camilleri’s ministry decides on hunting needs to be signed off by Miriam Dalli’s ministry. Without such signature, the decision will be void.

The law, for example, states that the Wild Birds Regulation Unit (WBRU) should fall under the Environment Ministry, but as things stand now – following the decision taken by Prime Minister Robert Abela to give the hunting portfolio to Camilleri – this is currently being overseen by the Gozo and Planning Ministry.

Funding for the WBRU comes from the Gozo Ministry, and the Ornis Committee which advises the Gozo Minister on hunting matters refers to Camilleri and his advisors. But then, every subsidiary law specifies the Environment Ministry directly, so nothing can be gone –legally – without its acquiescence.

Strange, isn’t it?

Abela chose to assign hunting to Camilleri knowing that his ministry cannot sign off laws related to the subject. So anything that Camilleri and his ministry decide needs to be approved by Dalli and her ministry. Needless to say, Dalli is acting as a rubberstamp of whatever Camilleri chooses to do. Dalli’s ministry, as far as is publicly known, has always given its approval to anything the Gozo Ministry decided.

This bizarre situation, according to BirdLife, can be challenged in court since the NGO contends it is a constitutional breach, but it says its resources are limited. We add that given the length of time it takes to resolve such issues, it is likely that the legislature would have come to an end by the time the courts of law decide on the matter.

Nonetheless, it does show the great lengths the Prime Minister has gone to “protect” hunters and hunting. He was the first to place the hunting portfolio within the responsibilities of the Gozo Minister, and then gave the post to Clint Camilleri, who is well-known for his support to the hunting lobby. Abela did this knowing that hunting laws fall under the Environment Ministry, creating this anomalous situation.

“Clint Camilleri is making the decisions, his permanent secretary is making decisions, and then he goes to (Environment Minister) Miriam Dalli’s (ministry) and tells them to sign, and they do so at the end of the day,” BirdLife president Daryl Grima said.

Mark Sultana said that laws related to hunting are now being published jointly by the Gozo Ministry and the Environment Ministry, in conjunction with the Environment and Resources Authority.

In a nutshell, the Gozo Ministry cannot do anything on its own with regard to hunting.

It’s just another example of the “anything goes” mentality that the Labour government has encouraged since taking over the reins of the country in 2013.