How time flies and memories fade, or should I say evaporate. George, our environment minister, did not take lightly to that piece of cardboard Dr Claire Bonello carried in the environment rally. It might have been a blow to George who still thinks he is the champion of our environment, but to get the Prime Minister embroiled in a wee tiny poster carried in a rally is hardly an item that should have taken on board the Prime Minister. Don’t our politicians have anything better to do?

George accused those attending the rally and those who vociferously objected to the new development zones, asking where they were in the 1980s when his predecessor Lorry Sant, who featured in the poster, was minister and the destruction of the environment was the order of the day.

I for one was there out in the streets and George was there too; as a matter of fact we had formed an environmental committee in the Moviment Zaghagh Nazzjonalist (MZPN). I have remained an environmentalist while George has taken the podium and attacks anyone who dares speak for the environment.

We, the people attending the rally, protested because we believe that before even considering whether the proposed extensions to the development boundaries should take place, it should be noted that the changes being proposed go against the development planning laws, against the EU Strategic Environment Assessment directive and bypass the need for Environment Impact Assessments, especially in certain areas

The restriction of applied criteria to include only irrigated land as defined is not justified. It is normal agricultural practice in Malta that in summer land is given time to rest while produce is cultivated in the other months. Therefore it is part of the natural farming cycle to have land that is not watered for part of the year, yet crop irrigation is practiced the remainder of the year. This does not necessitate the perennial presence of a natural water source as is the case with art saqwi, nor does it detract from the productivity of the land

The concept that “not all garigue is important for conservation” is a contradiction in ecological terms.

Areas that have potential archaeological importance must be preserved for future study rather than built up. These areas should be placed under the responsibility of the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage to be fully documented, excavated, and finally made available to the general public as an archaeological site. The archaeological potential of some of the sites still needs to be fully investigated.

Areas close to village cores must not be developed unless built in the particular style of the village.

A precedent is being set as it is being proposed that land be given to people who have land elsewhere that cannot be developed by releasing land outside the development zone to be built up.

The proposed areas in many cases include mature trees, some of which are protected by law according to legal notice 12 of the Environment Protection Act. This law states: “No person shall fell or attempt to fell, cut or attempt to cut, debark or strip off or attempt to debark or strip off the bark or leaves of a tree, uproot or attempt to uproot, remove or attempt to remove timber, affix or attempt to affix something to, or in any way destroy or attempt to destroy, damage or attempt to damage such protected trees.”

Integrity of landscapes, in general, has not been taken into account and little familiarisation with the land in question is evident from the shaping of the boundaries and the way the boundaries have been drawn up.

The exercise goes counter to MEPA’s long-overdue local planning process, which is now years late.

MEPA’s own assessments for planning zones in Structure Plans was to provide land for development which would be enough to cover needs for a number of years. Why add the stock of land available for development?

More social injustices will be incurred by property owners within the existing building scheme whose properties will suffer a decline in value due to the retraction of green areas than injustices under the Temporary Provisions Schemes.

Mark Causon is Alternattiva Demokratika spokesperson for Environment & Rural Affairs