The Prime Minister has declared that he will not tolerate PN politicians who do not abide by the party’s principles. Christian values are one of the core principles of the PN’s manifesto. I totally believe it should be so and I fully respect the party for that! And I ask: who is ultimately qualified to define and evaluate these Christian principles? The Church, of course! And it was the Church that declared the proposed Hondoq project to be “crass social insensitivity” while the Church’s own experts came to the same conclusion as that of the anti-project groups – the project will not be economically sustainable.
The Church’s statements can be better appreciated when one bears in mind the fact that the Augustinians, who sold the land at a cheap price, had an agreement with the buyers that if the land in question were ever developed the Augustinians, and thus the Church, would be financially compensated. In other words, the Church will gain if the development takes place, and yet it has followed its conscience and spoken against it.
Kudos to the organisers of the 3 September save Hondoq barbecue, especially to Paul Buttigieg of SOS Hondoq. Special thanks also goes to Astrid Vella for her dedicated work to preserve our natural heritage. It was surprising to see such a large group, even though it was not advertised and there were attempts by others to ‘circumvent” the event. There was a large turnout of our non-Maltese residents who were really pleased to hear things said in English (unlike that infamous meeting in June!!). Finally, we would like to thank all the Maltese and non-Maltese who went swimming, camping or relaxing in any way at Hondoq because every time you use Hondoq you are sending a message: Save The Bay! Don’t Take It Away From Us!! The swimming season is almost over; let’s pray Hondoq will be there for us to use again next year!
A warning to those in favour of the project – Man can build, destroy and rebuild structures in a very short time with modern technology! But when he destroys nature, it is an extreeeemely slow and expensive process to restore, and very often impossible!
Leo Attard
QALA