So we might be there to hail in a New Year,  soon. More precious time, perhaps. Time that has to be used as soon as it is given or lost forever.

A New Year is just a concept, a restart, an opportunity, resolution time. We all look at it, see it, percieve it differently, and it will be a different year for each one of us. It will be more or less what we make it, unless something  very drastic happens of course , like a natural disaster , or a man-made one  like the Yazidi massacre.

The New Year can be any of the following:

A new invention or reinvention,

A clean slate to write a brand new story on,

A snow white canvas to splash a wonderfully colourful picture,

A new creation.

Though my body travels a lot, my mind dwells on my country. It dwells on my country, perhaps too much. An enchantingly beautiful Archipelago   inundated with a globally unmatched  concentration  of archaeological evidence that  this little spot   was  a special place  for  the development of humankind since time immemorial.

Not that I need my ancient forefathers to convince me.

Malta and Gozo, Comino and the rest of the little islands remain beautiful, even if they have suffered many assaults on their natural attributes, assaults that could have been avoided.

In previous years I was either too young  to make much difference,  just  a helpless aspiring politician, or a member of Parliament in the Opposition , useless, frustrated and angry at the manner in which my country was being systematically denuded of its uniqueness. 

These past couple of years, however, I have been a backbencher on the Government side, with all the increased responsibility that that   position carries with it.

And believe me, it has been difficult from many standpoints, but particularly painful from an environmental perspective, since I am still not convinced that the powers that be are  fully appreciating what the vote-catching,  greedy developer friendly  new planning policies, will do to our precious islands if exploited to the full.

From the High Rise development on Mistra Ridge, to White Rocks, Manoel Island,  increased permitted building height in many areas, destruction of old buildings of heritage value, spoiling of streetscapes, to the general rush for putting  immediate  economic pointers before  sustainable development and resource management, I'm terrified that our islands will be irreversibly 'uglified'.

Throughout this year, I have criticised this government on many issues with the sole intention of seeing its performance improve. And from the results of recent surveys by this paper,  not only have I not harmed the government, but the government is actually stronger for having the humility  to take up positions I dared to insist on.

But this is not political criticism.

The environment belongs to us all in equal measure and it's our responsibility to pass on this patrimony to future generations possibly in a better state than we found it.

So this is a heartfelt  appeal  to use this year and the next and the next to reverse  what can be reversed of the damage inflicted on our beautiful villages, waterways and countryside, to conserve and care for our priceless agricultural land,  garrigue and shorelines, to build only  sustainable and efficient buildings, to incentivise the re-inhabiting of old houses of character, and redevelop useless , ugly building stock, but mostly to avoid unnecessary building on virgin land.

As the recent NSO figures suggest, Joseph Muscat's government has the economy on the right track, no mean feat considering the flailing international scenario.

If Joseph Muscat's government could reinvent the economy to cut the financial deficit, it can  also reinvent the environment and planning policy to address the environmental deficit that exists and can potentially increase. 

My resolution for 2015 is to insist on this point, but the resolution of  just a few persons  is useless in this regard.We have to do this together, and it's the best gift we can bequeath our children.

Thanks in anticipation... And Happy new year!