Despite releasing an opinion paper on environmental resources yesterday, in which it encouraged Christians to use their moral and ethical sense, the Archbishop’s Curia’s environment commission did not comment on the latest developments on the Ramla l-Hamra project.
The commission said it could not go into the specifics of issues that fell under the remit of the Gozo diocese.
The controversial project has been the talk of the town over the past few days, after representatives of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (Mepa) said on Friday they had been informed that there could be enough evidence to revoke permits approved earlier this summer, for the re-development of Ulysses Lodge overlooking the Ramla, one of Gozo’s most picturesque bays.
Asked by The Malta Independent to at least give a general comment on the latest developments with regard to the Ramla project, the environment commission’s chairman, Victor Axiak, said that although the Gozo diocese did not yet have an environment commission, the idea was that issues related to Malta’s sister island would be tackled separately.
Commission vice-chairman Paul Pace said the opinion paper, as well as certain statements issued in the past, dealt specifically with land use and “if you read between the lines, you will be able to tell what the Church’s stand is”.
Pressed further, Dr Pace said it was clear that the Church was against development that compromised virgin land.
The environment commission’s opinion paper was issued to mark the feast of St Francis of Assisi – which falls on 4 October – and deals with three main issues: land use, use of water and biodiversity.
Prof. Axiak explained that the Church wanted to encourage Christians to go a step further from what the law provided, and take into consideration what was ethical and moral when making choices that could have an impact on the environment.
The opinion paper provides an auto-critical approach of the Church regarding the way it has tackled issues related to the environment in the past.
The paper states that: “The Church needs to be a clear and courageous sign of the times. With its sincere interest in the holistic development of humans – because they are created in God’s image – the Church is in the best position to find the right balance between the three dimensions of sustainable development: the environment, society and economy”.
Prof. Axiak spoke about the fact that Christian life is not only regulated by laws, but also by a properly formed conscience and personal responsibility, which require Christians to go one step ahead of the law.
Speaking about sustainable use of land, Prof. Axiak said: “Being sustainable in your choices, means making an extra effort to find alternative sites that would still satisfy your needs, and this could be done, for example, by making use of existent property and land that is already developed”.
As regards the use of water, the commission’s chairman appealed to the authorities to courageously crack down on waste, theft and abuse of the country’s water resources.
Making reference to a recent study that showed that Malta has one of the lowest water reserves in the EU, Prof. Axiak said that considering the impact that climate change could have on the amount of rainfall, if this problem is not solved in a practical manner, “we will lose half of our current water reserves in 50 years time”.
A large part of the opinion paper’s section dealing with biodiversity, speaks about the need for bird hunting and trapping to become a sustainable practice.
Asked to comment further, Dr Pace said it was important to take into consideration the common good, but observance of the laws still depended on individuals. Again, he appealed to Christians to go a step further, question themselves and act on their own good
judgement.