Ten NGOs have protested against the government's handling of the public domain saying: "After doing nothing about the Public Domain public consultation for four years, the Maltese has government shamefully chose to settle it while a pandemic rages. Providing protection to a few token sites L-Għadira s-Safra, limits of Naxxar, and parts of l-Għeriexem and il-Marġ, Rabat, while ignoring 23 major nature sites, leaving them vulnerable to future development, amounts to no more than a crude greenwashing exercise on the part of the Planning Authority," Flimkien Ghal Ambjent Ahjar said in a statement.
"In 2016, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar and Friends of the Earth (Malta) submitted 23 sites to be considered as Public Domain, including Manoel Island, Comino, Pembroke, Simblija, Fomm ir-Riħ and the Ras ir-Raħeb headland, Fomm ir-Riħ, the area from St Thomas Bay in Marsascala to Xrobb l-Għagin in Marsaxlokk, and many other sites of established Ecological and Scientific Importance and High Landscape Value as well as the one suggested by Minister Herrera - Wied Ghomor."
"The NGOs proposed these sites because spending time in a nature setting is essential for the health of residents of Malta's over-developed urban areas therefore our proposals included several areas where public paths allow such enjoyment of nature. Considering the limited size of the Maltese islands and the ever-decreasing open countryside, the remit of the Planning Authority should have led it to guarantee free and en-encumbered access to the public for these sites and to ensure that they will receive additional protection from land grab and commercialization, especially since most of these sites are Government-owned and there is absolutely no bar to them being designated as public domain."
Up to yesterday's public consultation deadline, "several eNGOs, including Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, Futur Ambjent Wieħed, Friends of the Earth (Malta), Moviment Graffitti, theRamblers Association, Din l-Art Ħelwa, Archaeological Society of Malta, Green House and Birdlife Malta along with hundreds of members of the public sent emails to the Planning Authority, protesting that the public should have been given the chance to be consulted on whether public access to these sites should be guaranteed. Instead, the 5,500 members of the public who had supported FAA/FoE's submissions were arrogantly ignored, as were the 5,000 who had similarly submitted parliamentary petitions re Manoel Island."
Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar said that "Government does not have the right to dispose of public land at will but have the responsibility of holding public land in trust for the people and future generations."
"We and our fellow eNGOs therefore repeat our profound disappointment at yet another episode where the Planning Authority, and the politicians who direct it, sacrificed the islands' environment and public health, showing themselves to be interested only in superficial and cynical greenwashing to allow development to over-run even more of our islands."
The ten NGOs protesting are Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, Futur Ambjent Wieħed, Friends of the Earth (Malta), Moviment Graffitti, Ramblers Association, Din l-Art Ħelwa, Archaeological Society of Malta, Green House and Birdlife Malta