From Mr L. Cauchi

The Ramla and Hondoq projects are opportunities to further enrich those who are already rich! These victimised areas should be looked upon as the legacy of the Maltese and Gozitans, to be enjoyed as places of relaxation and unspoilt natural beauty. Since the Hondoq project is still a hot issue, the Ramla project adds insult to injury! It is symbolically accurate to build a cemetery on the Ramla road because this cemetery, together with the proposed villas, will be the death of the bay as we know it.

And who will afford these houses at Hondoq and Ramla? Not the average newlyweds who are trying to start out in life, but the super rich who, I am sure, already have a house to live in. Why buy them? To satisfy their egocentric desire for a status symbol to set them above the common man! Next, I wouldn’t be surprised if this segregation is taken to its next step by having the beaches, or at least parts of them, privatised as has already happened in some places.

There was once a “scramble for Africa” by the super powers, ready to suck the colonies dry to enrich themselves. That scramble left serious consequences on the colonies. Now we are seeing something similar – a scramble for prime real estate for certain developers to further enrich themselves; this too will have serious consequences on the environment and thus on the people.

Just yesterday I was swimming at Hondoq with a tourist friend. It was heaven until two speedboats zoomed in showing off. The exhaust fumes and noise pollution destroyed that heaven. Now if two boats could do that, what will a yacht marina do? I leave it to you to answer!

I agree that these places, especially Hondoq, could do with a “facelift” but what is being proposed is an absolute, irreversible “face transplant”!

I appeal: DO NOT DESTROY OUR LEGACY.

Leo Cauchi

QALA