The European Court of Justice’s ruling on spring hunting in Malta was to the effect that it will not be opened this season.

There are different types of people in this country, just like anywhere else. Those who abide by the law, those who flaunt the law, and last but definitely not least, those who take the law into their own hands.

This trend was observed last week when Birdlife organised an activity in Delimara during the traditional dawn hunting time from 5.30am till 9am. In that time, between 80 to 100 shots were loosed and a bird was actually shot out of the sky – it is clear, some hunters will not take no for an answer. We must emphasise that it is, of course, not all hunters who have flaunted the law, but a number have and there is irrefutable proof of this.

To deal with illegal hunting is no easy task for the Police Administrative Law Enforcement Unit. Last year they numbered 20 officers, and this newspaper has been informed that although they now have better equipped vehicles, equipment and boats to track down illegal hunting, 20 officers is simply not enough. When dealing with armed hunters, ALE police understandably patrol with four officers to a car. After all, one can never tell if tempers might spill over, leading to unwarranted consequences.

With five officers in Gozo, some taking their well-earned days off and others out on leave, one might surmise that there might be enough manpower to muster four patrols. Also, we must bear in mind that the squads of officers will be responding to other cases of reported localised illegal hunting as well as other issues that are in their remit.

As already mentioned, last week’s visit to Delimara saw up to 100 shots being fired illegally. We must also add that Delimara is only one hunters’ hotspot. There is Maghtab, Selmun, Rabat, Mistra, Mizieb, Dingli, Mellieha and practically anywhere that a scrap of countryside can be found; even Buskett is not safe as was evidenced a couple of years ago when lead shot smashed one of the windows at the Presidential Palace.

It begs the question… does the ALE have enough manpower to patrol the whole island? The answer would have to be an unequivocal no. We have heard it all before; the police are short on officers and inductions have to be made quite often to bolster the ranks.

Here is the situation. The ECJ has ruled that spring hunting cannot take place this year. If the country does not abide by that ruling, then we could be looking at fines, and you can bet your last euro that they will be hefty fines.

The Police Commissioner has said time and time again that he faces a shortage of officers even to keep local police stations open, preferring to assign the scant numbers of available officers to patrolling the streets. First and foremost, in the long-term, one must look at improving wages and conditions in an effort to attract more people to join the corps (and a budget increase would help too). But there is another solution at hand.

The Armed Forces of Malta is of a decent size and one could argue that they could really help the ALE in patrolling the countryside. They might already be doing that, but there is definitely need for more presence. Also, using local wardens could be an option.

We understand that there are risks and that, again AFM resources are limitedtoo.

But the law is what it is and it should be obeyed. The least that can be done is to give the law enforcers the tools with which they need to execute their orders.