Being in favour of or against the now defunct St John’s project is a democratic right, but attacking Astrid Vella and her integrity smacks and smells of political arrogance, disrespect for the right to oppose and intolerance.

For the record, Ms Vella recently won the European award for voluntary work after she received no less than 12,000 votes from different EU countries in recognition of her tireless efforts to save what is left of our untouched heritage and charm.

For the record, it was Astrid Vella who, on 5 November – a mere four months ago – won the Volunteer of the Year Award presented by SOS Malta, a prize which, according to Dr Gonzi himself, is “an expression of the value of volunteering”.

For the record, had Astrid Vella and her organisation not voiced concern about the project, we would, in all probability, have been slyly bamboozled into believing that the project was beneficial for all. This would have been said to be confirmed by some fictitious “consultation” exercise, to which we have now become so accustomed.

For the record, Ms Vella was never against an EIA on the project but had doubts about it because it was being funded by the foundation itself, which at the time had every reason to see that the project went ahead.

For the record, it was Dr Gonzi who scrapped the project (and not Ms Vella) after ignoring everyone except the archbishop.

Unlike Astrid Vella, the louder some armchair know-it-all critics shout, the more they become enemies of their own mission! So a word of encouragement is due to Astrid Vella, because it is only through people like her that this country can ever hope to protect itself from greedy politicians, developers and those who so eloquently and “politely” attack NGOs to ensure that the status quo in this country remains untouched.

Albert Gauci Cunningham

BUGIBBA