The private sector came to the assistance of the Foresta 2000 afforestation project in Mellieha, practically laid to waste by deplorable acts of vandalism on Tuesday night, as three more trees were similarly destroyed on the St Julian’s promenade on Wednesday night in what appeared to have been a copycat crime.
The public was also urged to send a message to the criminals by donating funds to help repair the damage and to come forward with any information on the shameful acts.
HSBC Bank Malta and Maltacom yesterday joined forces to present a cheque for Lm10,000 – Lm7,000 from the HSBC Cares for the Environment Fund and another Lm3,000 from Maltacom – in order to begin repairing, as much as possible, the damage done by the senseless and shameless acts of vandalism.
Some 3,000 pine tree saplings, which had been growing for the last three years, were uprooted, sawed in half and otherwise destroyed by hand on Tuesday night.
Speaking at a press conference at the site yesterday, Police Commissioner John Rizzo yesterday personally condemned the vandalism as “acts of terrorism” and “senseless, criminal acts”.
“We are doing all that is possible to find those responsible. As an indication of the priority we are giving the matter, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), as opposed to the district police, is investigating the incident. We are confident that we will find those responsible.” He added that next month members of the corps would be planting trees at the site.
Mr Rizzo also appealed for anyone with any information on the commission of the crime or the identity of the culprits to come forward by phoning freephone numbers 119 or 112, or by calling the police headquarters on 2122-4001.
Rural Affairs and Environment Minister George Pullicino, also on site yesterday, commented, “These vandals have hurt me personally but, more than that, they have hurt the entire Maltese community. This is not a government project, but rather a project for the entire Maltese population.
“We are determined to find the funds to replace the trees that have been destroyed. It is not that the government does not have the Lm20,000 needed to repair the damage, it is a matter of us urging the people to show their support of the project, their rejection of this vandalism and to send their reply to these criminals and terrorists.”
HSBC Bank Malta has, in fact, opened a special bank account for public donations. The account number is 033221458001.
Italian Ambassador Paolo Andrea Trabalza, also present yesterday, in fact set a precedent and announced he would immediately be making a personal donation of Lm150.
Mr Pullicino, who celebrates his birthday tomorrow, has also requested the ministry’s staff, which usually chips in for a present for the minister, to instead direct any such funds to the special account.
Mr Pullicino was also adamant that the 34U afforestation project would continue despite the temporary setback.
“Whether the attack was aimed at BirdLife, Din l-Art Helwa or the government, the end result was that is was really against Maltese society at large. Whoever did this has no respect for their own children, they have a dirty conscience that they will now have to live with every day.”
Din l-Art Helwa’s Martin Galea yesterday commented, “If these people are trying to make a political statement through their actions, they are wrong. This is a democratic country and there are ways and means of voicing their discontent.”
Expressing the NGO’s solidarity with BirdLife, Mr Galea referred to recent threats made against BirdLife and called on the Police Commissioner to act against the threats as “people might get hurt”.
Referring to other recent vandal attacks against BirdLife operations, BirdLife Malta president Joseph Mangion commented, “We are concerned that this will not be the last such act of vandalism.”
Mr Mangion also observed that, to date, no one has been brought to book over threats made against BirdLife and urged both the minister and the police commissioner to step up actions to bring the culprits to justice.
“We will move on, and we will succeed, not for us, but for the country,” he added.
Italian ambassador Paolo Andrea Trabalza yesterday condemned the attacks when greeting Rural Affairs and Environment Minister George Pullicino at the Foresta 2000 site. The Italian government had itself donated 8,000 trees toward the project.
“It was an ugly day,” he commented, referring to Wednesday’s news of the vandalism attacks. “Those responsible have destroyed a forest that should have been for their children. These people, when shaving in the morning, if they were indeed males, and looking at themselves in the mirror would see a delinquent and should rightfully cry.”
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Chorus of condemnation
The three political parties yesterday issued a joint statement condemning the vandalism on the 3,000 pine trees early on Wednesday morning as well as the vandalism on three other trees on the St Julian’s promenade yesterday.
The joint statement was signed by Nationalist Party information director Gordon Pisani, Labour Party secretary general Jason Micallef and Alternattiva Demokratika public relations officer Victor Fiorini.
The parties said that whoever is responsible for this cowardly act must be bought to justice and made to pay for the damage caused.
“The undersigned parties want to make it clear that if those responsible for the act are doing so to get some form of message across, rest assured that none of us will consider your plight. We all believe in dialogue as the only way to influence our policies. Violence and vandalism attacks are condemned not just by us, but by the Maltese society in general,” the political parties said.
Messages condemning the vandalism also arrived from the Mellieha local council which said that it could not understand how such an important project could be targeted by vandals.
It said the council has always supported the Foresta 2000 project at the locality and also provides the water for the irrigation. The council appealed to anyone with information to approach the police as soon as possible so that the vandals are caught and brought to justice.
It said it will continue to believe in the project and will do all it can to repair the damage caused by the vandals.
The National Youth Council also joined in condemning the vandalism and said that this act of vandalism shows that that are still people who do not have the country’s environment and well-being at heart. It said the Mellieha project was not only of benefit to our environment but also provided much needed clean air for our country.
The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association also strongly condemned the destruction of the 3,000 pine saplings in Mellieha. It said such acts of vandalism are acts against all Maltese.
The association said such areas embellish the countryside and serve as an incentive to promote the islands as a tourist resort. “The authorities have to find and stop these people and the magistrates dealing with such criminals should apply the harshest punishments. Such criminals should serve prison sentences and be made to pay hefty fines,” it said.
Meanwhile, the Mellieha PN Sectional Committee has said that it will be donating trees to replace those which have been vandalised in Mellieha and condemned the act without reservations.
The Graffitti Movement also joined in condemning the vandalism at Mellieha saying that this act of vandalism, along with others that have been committed over the past months, clearly indicates political motivation.