Twenty-one non-governmental organisations today urged the public to join the protest against what they described as a “siege” on outside development zones.

The protest will be held on Saturday in Valletta at 10am.

Astrid Vella, spokesman for one of the NGOs, Flimkien Ghal Ambjent Ahjar, said that the Labour Party tried to appear convincing about the environment before the last election.

The writing was on the wall for all to see, so anyone who did not see this writing is either blind or in denial since while Labour had said that it would safeguard the environment it also pledged it would be a pro-business government, and business and the environment do not go well together.

Ms Vella said that the situation is so bad in terms of the environment being eaten away that not only did environment NGOs participate in today’s press conference but so did NGOs such as Aditus and Gender Liberation – which are not envirnmentalists - along with student societies such as the Students Philosophical Society.

Ms Vella also lamented the fact that many public spaces were being spared only to be eaten up by building developments and Comino – which is a Natura 2000 site – also risked being a target of development.

Ramblers’ Association president Alex Vella said that if one were to sift through the Malta Environment and Planning Authority website, one would find that there are many pending applications to build on ODZs which are being considered. He said that instead of scrapping such applications, Mepa was contemplating whether to give the green light to such projects.

Prof Edward Mallia explained that the concerns of NGOs is not only about Zonqor Point’s proposed development but the siege on ODZs.

“There are clauses which have been approved at parliamentary committee stage as part of the Strategy Plan for the Environment and Development (SPED)– such as the words ‘feasibility’ and ‘sustainability’ – which will open the doors wide to interpretation and this, in itself, can pose a big threat to the environment,” Ms Vella said.

The NGOs present explained that there are plenty of sites which can be considered to host the new university, including the San Salvatore and Ricasoli fortresses. The former Jerma site is also an option, the NGOs said.

Mr Vella pointed out his fear is that certain sites are not even being considered by the government, casting doubts whether the intentions behind the project are more of a commercial nature than an educational one. 

Marc Andrea Cassar from the ADZ Green Youth said although youths are in favour of having their education furthered through the building of additional educaitonal institutions, the proposed Zonqor development will not serve any purpose in the south of Malta.

“The repercussions of building in ODZs will in the long term far outweigh the benefits of a university,” he said.

Fr Joe Cassar, a Jesuit, said that in the national interest, people’s quality of life must be shielded from an unsustainable model of economic growth.

He said that the NGOs were not representing some political party or attacking a party for that matter by voicing its concerns, but were speaking out to safeguard our enivironment for generations to come.

“It would be a big mistake if one were to label us as acting in a partisan way,” he said.