Selmun is a beautiful promontory that lies between St Paul’s Bay and Mellieħa Bay. The scenic beauty of its rugged cliffs and undulating valleys, terraced fields and windy garigues and sandy bays have, paradoxically, all contributed to it being raped so many times over the years. Unfortunately, this beautiful example of the Maltese environment is now on the brink of yet another flagrant, public rape.
The relationship between the Maltese inhabitant and his local environment, as typified by Selmun, demonstrates the deep hatred and indifference many of us have towards Mother Nature.
The appreciation of the Maltese inhabitant for his cultural and natural heritage once again appears to be so lethargic, so disgracefully wanting.
I am very aware that these are harsh words I am directing towards myself and my fellow citizens. But I feel that, unfortunately, we generally look with disdain on Mother Nature and on the aspects of culture and tradition that make up the soul of these rocks upon which we live. The late poet Ġorġ Pisani once told me to love this place we call Malta; Malta is not large, Malta has no rivers and Malta has no mountains but this is what we have! This is what God gave us and this is what is ours!
The old peasant at Selmun is now almost nowhere to be seen. His toil in the fields is remembered only by the signs all over the place that are a permanent reminder of his meagre existence, full of hard work and tradition. His methods, and the culture developed to earn his livelihood, his relationship with the soil and with the rocks, his love of his own fields, his beliefs and his fears, can still be found in barely discernable clues all over the Selmun area. This is explicitly evidenced by the richness of the rural architecture, the magnificent rubble walls and corbelled stone huts, many of which are endangered due to the lack of proper attention and the lack of a serious national conservation plan.
And now Selmun is facing yet another threat. A fish-packaging factory is being built on a suite that is surrounded by beautiful garigues. This may be within the parameters of the law, but the impending destruction is there clearly for everyone to see and nobody can do anything about it because the people who run the show are powerful people who make the rules. Matters have already been decided and, once more, Selmun is the victim. The people who make these decisions use one rule when it suits them, and refuse permission on the grounds of not wanting to ruin the character of a place, but then conveniently grant permission for the destruction of the natural character of Selmun!
Technocentricity
A technocentric individual is one who genuinely believes that the environment has been created or has evolved solely to suit his personal desires. It is there simply to fit in with his own requirements, feelings, needs and whims and consequently for him to use as he pleases – and he does not care about how his use will affect others. He is a person who holds that the human race – particularly he himself – is the most important creation in the whole universe. All other creatures and the rest of creation are there to be used for his own satisfaction and for his own fancy. To him, humanity is indeed the most important aspect in all of nature.
An extremely technocentric society is one that remorselessly destroys sand dunes, uproots priceless vegetation and forests, builds in fertile valleys and fields, crushes rubble walls and positions industrial equipment on priceless garigues and historic sites. It designs heavy machinery to destroy immense areas of virgin land in a short time, creates oil fields and endless quarries and pollutes the sea, killing whales and seals.
The technocentric individual places his puppets in strategic places to ensure that he can wield his power. This type of individual demolishes historic fortresses and other old buildings and devastates and ‘develops’ sites of natural scenic beauty that nature has taken millions of years to develop for everyone. He does not bother if he establishes an industrial activity where it can damage the natural beauty of the countryside. He bulldozes terraced fields and garigues replete with fauna and flora. He views natural surroundings in terms of what he can get out of them. Natural surroundings are equated with personal gain, power, profit and money. Land is money. Soil is money. The sea is money. The air is money. Old village life is money. Nature, to a technocentric person, means money and power.
Ecocentricity
An ecocentric person, on the other hand, is one who genuinely believes that the environment and creation are not there for him to modify as he pleases. He believes that the creatures of the world around him have also a right to enjoy the same natural surroundings. He is not the centre of the universe and the sun does not revolve around him. An ecocentric person defends the natural environment.
He is conscious of the cultural heritage that shows him the continuity of human existence. He feels the need to understand his national identity because he wants to be sure that his forefathers have taken part in the development of human progress of the universal man. Therefore this ecocentric man does not destroy old fortresses. He does not destroy old garigues. He does not put industrial vehicles and machinery in places of historical and natural importance. He does not endanger the natural scenery by carrying out industrial activity in the countryside. He respects people who are keen to enjoy the beauty of nature. He respects those who visit places of natural beauty and who love the small, unassuming places that tell them about their culture.
To the ecocentric, Mother Nature is the ultimate example of beauty and serenity and he respects Mother Nature because he believes that a human being should relate intelligently to his natural environment.
He believes that he is simply a humble creature that lives in harmony with the sea and its fish, with the air and its birds, with the forests and its trees, with the land and its animals. Money is not his priority and he believes that the garigues belong to everyone. The sea is beauty and the sea is livelihood. Soil is life. Land is life. Trees are existence. The animals have as much right to the soil and to the sea and the air as do humans. Nature is happiness and peace.
A sad conclusion
Although I honestly believe that there are more ecocentric people in Malta than technocentric individuals, this is not reflected in the state of the natural environment here. Our cultural heritage is not as safe as we would like it to be, there is no plan to prevent damage to our natural environment and we can never be sure that it will be preserved. I have finally reached a very sad conclusion, having for years hoped that I was wrong.
The reality is that the technocentrics are the most powerful, wealthy people. They are mostly developers, the majority of them entrepreneurs, industrialists, moguls, real men of power who have no problems with money. This is the stark reality. They are the people who are the smartest because they have the reins of power in their hands. They are helped by people in politics who provide the possibilities for projects that destroy the environment and aspects of our national cultural heritage. They pretend to love the environment but they actually hate it. And there are, of course, others in the same category who secretly vandalise the environment by, for example, getting rid of an old mattress by throwing it behind a rubble wall or dump construction debris somewhere out of the public eye.
What about Selmun?
The destruction of the Maltese countryside has been constant but piecemeal and the destruction of Selmun reflects this perfectly. It has been constant, it has been thorough, it has been savage and it has also been piecemeal. Its attractions have caught the eye of too many people.
The most glaring and sudden change occurred when the new hotel was built close to Selmun Palace. The old society of peasants, with their traditions and culture, simply – and suddenly – disappeared. The hotel heralded the dramatic changes that were to come. The old peasant was not replaced by other peasants but the environment remained intact – the cliffs, the garigues, the coast. However, the modern hotel ruined the majestic beauty of Selmun Palace for ever.
Worse was to come. The Palace itself was then targeted when it was decided that it should become part of the hotel. It was simply ripped apart internally: some internal arches and walls were pulled down, others were shot blasted. The old oven was destroyed. Human skeletal remains and artefacts discovered in the old chapel were wilfully destroyed. With considerable risk to myself and my son, I uncovered the base of the apse of a 14th-century chapel referred to by Achille Ferris in his descriptions of old churches. Within two hours of my discovery, everything was coated with a cruel coat of concrete! Shame on the people who ordered this to be done: posterity will never, ever forgive them.
Over the years, houses appeared on the garigues. Stretches of the beautiful xagħra tal-Ħawlija were sectioned in plots for sale. The open garigue was up for sale and buildings ravaged its beauty. The road was widened. The centuries-old well in front of the castle was in danger of being demolished and old Patri Serafin – God bless his soul! – kicked like a real mule to save it and thanks to him it is still there.
The nearby ċangar was also almost destroyed many years ago. This is probably an old Roman road that still partly stands. Rubble was spread all over it and I was, incredibly, told by the authorities that nothing could be done as no one can stop progress! The ċangar was eventually given the status of a scheduled site but it is now in dire need of attention and funds should be available to preserve it immediately.
Some years ago a new road was constructed across the beautiful garigues overlooking Mistra Bay. There was no explanation for this from the authorities and in an attempt to get things moving I even took a member of parliament to look at the site. Nothing happened and the work continued. Considerable stretches of the garigue remain hugely defaced to this day. Once again the balance was tipped in favour of the entrepreneur’s whims and not our environment.
Over the years a fish-farming activity was started at the Qala tal-Mistra but no one seemed to care. The balance shifted towards killing what endemic fauna and flora we had at the Qala tal-Mistra. The authorities decided in favour of a shift in the balance towards unsightly surroundings around the old Trun`iera. The old Mistra battery was ruined and the nearby garigue was turned into a scrap yard – a dirty, unkempt industrial site. Members of the public protested, the NGOs protested but the destruction did not stop.
Young 4x4 drivers and off-roaders started the change to the clay slopes at il-Blata opposite the Islets of St Paul. Some of them immediately realised the destruction they were causing and stopped but others carried on and even started using other sites. Some of them switched to Għajn Ħadid, a hitherto unspoilt site, and some go to the cliffs at the side of Mistra Valley, driving up the rocky sides in their motorised vehicles.
Selmun today
I can give many more examples of the hatred which we as people show towards our own home. But now there is a new danger: an entrepreneur has decided to build an establishment at Selmun on the way to Mġiebaħ valley to package frozen fish. Of course, no one should be against industrial activity that provides work for people, but there are so many industrial sites in Malta! Why ruin the countryside? Everyone should be against the construction of this sort of industrial activity that will destroy the beauty of the natural environment. It is illogical – unthinkable – to place an industrial activity in the middle of the garigues. It is a sin, an unpardonable sin.
I have been told that the area is the site of a former fully licensed farm. I remember the farm clearly. I remember the pigs and the snails before them, and the chicken that were all so natural in a place that was completely agricultural and rural. But none of these was an industrial activity. None of them was a huge fish-packaging factory with trailers and trucks and containers and endless comings and goings result in another Mistra battery!
I have also been told that people should have protested earlier, because permission had been granted a long while ago. Well I for one never even knew about the project – and every single Sunday I walk in front of this site! The public has not been publicly consulted. Things have been done deliberately secretly and in an underhand fashion. I spend my days working and pay taxes so that the authorities employ people to actually safeguard the environment for me. And they have not managed to stop this ugliness! The fact that no one has protested does not validate a glaring attempt to destroy natural beauty.
It has been said that there has been so much destruction already in Selmun: the hotel, the internal destruction of the Palace, the houses on the garigues... but so what? Are we to continue destroying the place just because others have already caused destruction? Will we ever learn?
I am informed that the fish-packaging factory is not in a protected area but it is barely three meters away from the protected garigues! Will it be possible for an industrial activity to stay within its confines and not trespass on the surrounding fields and garigues? Will it be possible to keep its industrial sights away from the natural area that surrounds it? Will it be possible for the entrepreneur to claim his pound of flesh without spilling a drop of blood?
Having said all this, however, we should not point fingers at individuals because everyone is to blame. We have not treated our environment kindly. When an environmental gem is lost, it is lost for everyone. It is lost for Nationalists, it is lost for Labourites, it is lost for Christians, for Muslims, for everyone. Selmun is a gem that is being destroyed – permanently lost. We are killing our environment there because people keep wanting more of it. This is not love, it is hate. Love does not breed death.
I urge the reader to please visit Selmun and see the last traces of a once beautiful, serene rural environment that existed harmoniously with Mother Nature. Many years ago I suggested the setting up of a national park in the area, an open-air museum with heritage trails and/or guided walks in the open countryside. Go and see for yourself the beautiful area that we are losing by this persistent, piecemeal destruction. Go and savour it before it is too late, because the death sentence appears to be irrevocable.
Destruction is not love. True love does not kill.