I have just been reading the latest words from the developers behind the proposed Hondoq ir-Rummien development and I could sum it up in one word, which we use in the UK, ‘twaddle’. The things being said here are just ludicrous and would be funny if they were not so serious. It’s a bit like strapping a death row prisoner into the electric chair and telling him that the current about to pass through his body will benefit him in some way.

A lot is being made of the ‘close to 50 percent scaling down of the development’ as if this is something thought up by the developer for the benefit of the community. Do you really think any developer would suggest a 50 per cent reduction unless it was being imposed on him? The so-called 50 per cent reduction or scaling down means absolutely nothing. It simply gives the impression that the developer in some way cares about the concern expressed by the public and has decided that the destruction of Hondoq ir-Rummien will occur in stages rather than all at once.

According to Edward Bencini, the project’s lead architect, they have listened to what the people and experts have had to say. Well obviously they haven’t listened very well to the 85 per cent of Qala residents who have voted no to the idea of such a development. If they had done, they would know that the aspirations of the majority of the Gozitan community, the Maltese community and the tourists who visit the area is for it to be left unspoilt for generations to come. I saw the students’ presentation last year of the proposed plans for Hondoq ir-Rummien to be turned into a national park and I have to say this makes perfect sense from an eco-Gozo point of view. Hondoq ir-Rummien should be for the people as a whole to enjoy, not for a developer to spoil in order to get richer.

The developers use terms like ‘planning iterations largely driven by a long list of studies intended to analyse the environmental impacts of the project and how the development could be transformed into a Mediterranean sustainability showcase.’ That’s what I meant earlier by twaddle. Basically what it means is we weren’t allowed the massive development we had at first envisaged so we have decided to concentrate on the hotel and marina for now and once these are in place we will follow up with the apartments and holiday flats.

The Environmental Impact Assessment, which is to be presented to the public this week, will be the usual joke best described by the term ‘only in Malta’. Does anyone think for one minute that this EIA paid for by the developer will be anything other than favourable to the proposed development? The developers have promised a garigue park and self-sustainability in terms of water-use, both of which are excellent ideas but lets face it, this is the same as giving a kid a sweet so he doesn’t concentrate on the needle going into his arm.

The developers state that the project has garnered significant support in Gozo. I fail to see where they get that idea from as anything I have read has been against the project. This is just another example of letting an area fall into disrepair and then offer to develop it and make it beautiful again. The exact same tactic is being used at the old heliport site to try and justify the development of an airstrip. Of course Gozo is facing serious economic problems, as they say, but the same can be said of the world in general in the present economic climate. However, the main problem facing Gozo is one of over development where beautiful areas such as Hondoq and Dwejra are being exploited for the sake of profit.

I hope this proposed development gets booted into the sidelines where it belongs because if it gets passed, it will simply be another nail in the coffin of Gozo as a tourist destination.

James A. Tyrrell

N. Ireland