FATTA is astounded that an oil platform has been given permission to anchor in St Paul’s Bay, one of Malta’s more picturesque areas. Not only has this been done during one of the peak tourist months but also along a stretch of coast that is extremely tourist sensitive.

It is ironic that FATTA has constantly lobbied with MTA and the Ministry of Tourism that sensitive tourist areas should be kept in pristine condition at least during the peak summer months, free of construction debris and eyesores.

FATTA believes that berthing this oil platform at St Paul’s Bay is highly insensitive, especially now that Malta is already going through a bad period for incoming tourism, and wonders what image the Ministry or the Authority responsible is trying to project to both the general public and the tourists currently visiting our islands.

Such insensitivity to tourism zones and the tourism industry is even more glaring since FATTA and other NGOs have been actively lobbying to move the present fish farm pens even further offshore to avoid both environmental damage as well as the visual pollution these pens produce.

The berthing of the platform can only exacerbate the already negative effects being suffered in the tourism and environment areas.

FATTA stresses that this is lack of coordination between the ministries and the authorities, which all tourism stakeholders have been complaining about for many years, and wonders if MTA had been consulted or if the Authority protested about such situation. It hopes that immediate action is taken to relocate the platform to another less sensitive area.

FATTA also hopes that in future a more responsible approach to such decisions is taken.