Considering that the need to safeguard the environment is a topic which can be heard everywhere one goes in Malta today, the budgetary debate on the matter with the Prime Minister could be described as lacking in content.

While many would expect the issues of construction and waste generated from the same activity, hunting, waste separation at home and other topical matters to be discussed, they were barely touched on except for some particular speakers.

Prime Minister Gonzi opened the discussion by pointing out that the government had put the environment at the top of its agenda and that the purpose of the meeting was to sound out any proposals made by the public which may be considered for implementation.

One elderly man from Floriana took the floor and spoke about the need to rehabilitate the bus terminus in Valletta. “It is an absolute travesty that tourists see that place when they come here, people washing their cars, cabbies washing their carriages. It’s a mess and a bad advert for Malta and our tourism product,” he said.

Another man spoke about the problem of overcrowding at St Luke’s hospital. He praised the nurses for their commitment, but said that the fact that his mother spent her last days of life in a corridor was despicable. “This is not about having a new hospital; it is about organisation and I believe that a hospital is part of our environment and that is why I brought it up.”

A speaker from the Gardens Action Group not surprisingly spoke out against overdevelopment. He said that he used to be a developer himself and that he was not against it if it went ahead in a sustainable manner. He said that there were too many empty residences in Malta to be building others on such a grand scale.

Sandro Chetcuti, who is a member of the Chamber for Small and Medium Enterprises said that he was not against development, far from it, but said that the planning that goes into it should be sustainable. Explaining his cryptic statement further, he said that Malta never plans ahead, only for the short term and that professional planners who can look at the bigger, long term picture should be drafted in. He also said that Mepa’s modus operandi needed looking into as “what was relevant and pertinent 24 years ago might not be today.”

Lilian Cremona from Flimkien Ghal Ambjent Ahjar said that various agencies and organisations around Malta needed more funding in the upcoming budget if we are to properly conserve and restore our cultural heritage. She said that various NGOs were in a quagmire and direly needed funding to adequately safeguard areas such as Mdina, Valletta and Cottonera. She also said that the gas which is building up under Valletta was a time bomb waiting to go off.

Meanwhile, an elderly man from Mellieha captured the imagination of everyone present. He pleaded for the government to take action to restore Malta’s environment to what it was in his childhood years. However, he was not naïve and said that the government should also press ahead with embellishment of tourism areas, such as Mellieha’s promenade. He said that development should go ahead sustainably, but the few green areas that are left should be left untouched, such as the ones in his native Mellieha. A moment of joviality punctured the air when the man became embarrassed when Dr Gonzi told him he had enjoyed him playing his musical instrument during the Mellieha feast.

Lino Bugeja from the Ramblers’ Association came up with a very important point and said: “We seem to be looking at things from the wrong tack. We always see what we can gain out of the environment rather than looking at what we should put back in.”

He also touched on the problem of excessive height on rubble walls in the countryside and the fact that public footpaths should be exactly that, and not be on the whim of whoever claims to own the land in question.

Vince Attard from Nature Trust said that more funds were needed to safeguard Malta’s natural heritage sites. He also said that not enough was being done to address the issue of 80 per cent of Malta’s total waste – that generated from the construction industry. He said that it was about time that the polluter pays principle was implemented properly. Joseph Mangion of Birdlife was one of the final speakers and said that his main point was the need for enforcement of existing laws. He said everyone knew what the Maltese are like when left to their own devices and said that more police manpower was needed for enforcement.