Walking through Bethlehem in Ghajnsielem last weekend, I tried to figure out what Mary and Joseph would have gone through, had they looked for accommodation in the dormant city of Chambray. My first thought was that there should have been ample space for them in this newly built city at the background.

But on second thoughts, Mary and Joseph would have never befriended themselves with spending the night in such a weird atmosphere and they would have likely opted for nearby Ta’ Passi, nothing special, but near a village full of life and normal people. Unfortunately Chambray is not an exception. Big business has been looking for several areas in Malta and Gozo where to generate wealth at an accelerated pace.

Here comes the mea culpa of each one of us. In the depth of our hearts we like to think of a bigger cake because something tells us that we too could have a good chunk of it. In this vein, huge developments are still seen by many as synonym for progress, well-being, good way of life, jet set and as a big asset for our country and especially for tiny Gozo. It is the expressed view of many inhabitants that Gozo needs to be more than a crib to survive.

More may indeed be ante portas and here is where Mepa culpa comes in. Then such developments cannot go through unchecked. They are condoned by a state tool that should be fully aware of a big property bubble building up. I cannot understand why Mepa is currently toying with condoning the proposed development at Hondoq that is less than two kilometres away from Chambray. Chambray with a yacht marina within walking distance is failing. What gives our authorities the hope that Hondoq will succeed?

Moreover, there is a huge inconsistency when our authorities demolish a small structure at Dahlet Qorrot in a show of power with the weak to check unforeseen developments and some weeks later give the green light for a development like Hondoq that will crucify Qala and the Eastern part of Gozo for years. At the end we will have another 400 upmarket apartments added to the thousands planned at Tignè, SmartCity, Manoel Island and the empty ones in Chambray. Gozo is no dire straits for another ghost town that threatens to destroy one of its few pretty bays.

Perhaps it should be spelled out for Mepa and for big business that a bubble consists of thinking that the value of something will always reach higher levels and that a bursting bubble means destroying these values within a short time span.

Mepa and many of our institutional bodies wish to make us believe that without Hondoq the construction lobby would remain idle while the GDP would stagnate at low level. But if Mepa and its harbouring authorities wish development in Gozo to move on, they should perhaps consider establishing expiry dates on already issued permits thus ensuring that authorised jobs get done.

The writing is on the wall of thousands of empty apartments scattered all over the place for all to see. Clear signs of investors running out of cash are being ignored while at the same time many also seem to forget that boom and bust are the only two sides of overdevelopment. Meanwhile it is not difficult to tell which side we are facing now.

■ Agnes Debono

Kercem