During a visit to Bahrija on the morning of Sunday 5 August, TMIS readers noticed a newly opened dirt-track road cutting across centuries-old rubble walls and the beautiful “xaghri”, to permit extensive dumping of construction waste on what was previously pristine garigue.

The exact spot is located around 500 metres north-west from the derelict Maltacom/ Go premises, in the area where old communication pylons are located – as at http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=35.890716&lon=14.353212&z=18.4&r=0.

This dumping has taken place in the past weeks, possibly days, and it seems that this is ongoing.

Incidentally, in the same area, there are two other patches of garigue that are suffering the same fate, very close to the GO/Maltacom premises. Indeed some of the unrelated dumping there appears to be inside the perimeter fence of these premises.

This area is also quite possibly the only known habitat for Cistus monspeliensis in Malta, a beautiful and extremely rare flowering plant.

A report has been submitted on-line to MEPA. “We live in hope that the matter can be immediately looked into, the perpetrators brought to justice, and the landowner obliged to restore this habitat completely at his/her cost. If not, then this would be the perfect excuse for this land to suffer some form of development, as it seems that any form of development can be justified nowadays as long as the land is declared ‘degraded’, or ‘used for dumping’,” the readers said.