From Ms A. Vella
Marisa Micallef is right. Environmental debate should not be strident. The rest of her article however is not quite correct (TMIS, 6 May).
When Ms Micallef claimed that we criticise those who demolish houses, live in flats or buy flats where houses once stood, she went into serious journalistic overdrive as our criticism is only targeted at the demolition of heritage architecture mostly in Urban Conservation Areas (UCAs) and the official policy towards over-development. Why should we disapprove of people who live in or even rent out flats, when we haven’t ever condemned those who sell to developers? It is very easy to criticise, when such sales may actually be forced by the rent laws, by inheritance issues, by surrounding development which makes the area unliveable, or even by pressure and threats. I suggest that Ms Micallef backs up her claim that we criticise people who live in or buy flats, but advise her that she’s going to waste a lot of time.
As for accusing FAA members of having demolished townhouses or living in flats that were a townhouse 10 or 20 years ago, this is going a bit too far. By now all the world and his dog knows where I live, that it was my mother’s aunt’s husband who demolished the house, when I was a young child. Aren’t we taking the sins of the fathers a bit far? However, Ms Micallef’s saying that she does not know where I live is quite amusing since she often dropped in here for a slice of my mother’s cake as a teenager! And my media campaign to save the Ghar il-Lembi house made it known to all that I never moved. Now I hope Ms Micallef will forgive me for saying that it’s a lot longer than 20 years since either of us were teenagers, so she knows how off the mark she is!
As for accusing me personally and directly of making thousands on the sale of a house, I have to say Ms Micallef is being downright dishonest here, as the only thing I have ever made is a massive loss on an inherited rent-law house, which thankfully cannot be demolished due to its UCA protected status.
What is never mentioned, although it is well known, as I have said it several times on the media, is that when I had the option I chose to restore rather than demolish and develop. Neither is it mentioned in Ms Micallef’s diatribe that Helen Caruana Galizia lost, not gained thousands, by preventing her inheritance in Rudolf Street from becoming merely another over-developed blot on the fast-disappearing heritage landscape of Sliema. Instead, she obliged the buyer to maintain the same property in its original state. For although the social aspect of development does have to be considered, it should not have to come to the sell-out of heritage to the detriment of future generations and of visitors to the islands who expect character over blandness
But I should not be surprised. As election time draws near we are once again seeing the same old accusations aired. The fact that these are repeated by several pro-government columnists indicates that this is no mere coincidence. Dr Gonzi had agreed last summer that the attacks on environmentalists should stop, yet party hacks continue to attack and deliberately misquote us, as does Ms Micallef.
The most recent refrain, and the reason why we had replied to Ms Micallef two weeks ago is that NGOs allegedly only carp and don’t “come round the table more”, an accusation that Ms Micallef chooses to repeat even though she knows that the opposite is true, as we are regularly involved in talks and consultations with local councils, residents’ groups and the authorities, not to mention EU officials. I’m sorry Ms Micallef, but the people with whom we’ve had these cordial and productive meetings, from the Prime Minister and the Minister of the Environment to MEPA staff, can confirm that there is none of your fictitious antagonism or hardening of camps.
The ‘nimby’ word is another marker of the defamation crusade. Not only are those who live in flats not supposed to speak up about over-development, but they are especially not supposed to speak up about what is going on around them. How convenient! Ms Micallef talks of our nimbyism even though we have spoken up about the very issues she mentions, Lija and San Pawl tat-Targa, not to mention Birzebbugia, Mellieha and Gozo. Hardly my backyard, but I’m sure there must be some pejorative acronym for that too.
No matter. I assure Ms Micallef that just as I have praised her initiatives in the past, I do not take this personally, as her conclusion confirms that this is all compulsory electioneering. In fact I assure Ms Micallef that we still make pretty decent chocolate cakes, and that she’s welcome to drop round for a slice – she knows where to come!.
Astrid Vella
SLIEMA