The government yesterday signed a controversial agreement through which it handed over control of two sites – in Mizieb and Ahrax – to the hunting lobby.

The signing was set to be held on Sunday, as per the invitations sent out by the FKNK. But the government signed the agreement yesterday, possibly in a bid to avoid trouble with activists, who were due to show up at Ahrax to protest the agreement. A coalition of NGOs is also trying to block the agreement through the courts.

In a joint statement, the Infrastructure, Environment, Gozo and Construction ministries said that a number of obligations required to the upkeep and cleanliness of the areas were being introduced. They also said the two areas would remain open to the public at all times, but the zones used for hunting would be closed off during hunting hours.

What they failed to point out is that the two hunting seasons between them – the spring and autumn season – add up to six months. This means that the public is denied access for to these areas for at least half the year.

Infrastructure Minister Ian Borg on Thursday tried to justify the agreement by saying that the FKNK will not be given any financial compensation. As if that was a satisfactory statement that would change anything about this stinking deal.

Speaking to journalists, Borg confirmed that, as has always been the case for the past 30 years, the general public will not be allowed to enter the woodland areas during the hunting season.

“We are just formalising an agreement that has been in place since the 1980s,” he said.

So, basically, the public has been denied access to these two woodland areas for the past three decades and the government has now put ink on paper and giving the hunting lobby greater controls over these two spaces which should be enjoyed the public all year round.

Borg also said that the FKNK had been chosen in the past to manage these two areas and “they did a good job.”

Maybe he forgot about the serious incidents that took place at Mizieb and Ahrax over the years, and the infamous bird cemetery that had been discovered by activists a few years back.

It is ironic that the Minister spoke just hours before Birdlife Malta announced that 12 protected eagles had been shot down over Gozo. The organisation recently said that 2020 has been the worst year so far for illegal hunting, with 140 shot protected birds retrieved by the end of last month. So much for a “good job.”

We are not saying that all hunters are bad, or that they have not done anything to conserve rural areas. In fact, the FKNK has taken part in several environmental initiatives, including a recent one to increase the Barn Owl population (unfortunately, some of these birds were stolen and savaged in an incident that saw a man arraigned in court).

But this is not really about FKNK versus Birdlife Malta. It is about denying the public at large access to some of the few remaining green areas in Malta. It is also ironic that the decision was taken by the minister under whose watch the building industry has boomed, and large swathes of agricultural land have been destroyed forever to make way for wider roads.

His excuse that more green areas are being opened up elsewhere also does not hold water. It makes no sense to take away one area on one side of the island with the excuse that another one will be ‘given to the public’ somewhere else. With this logic we are, at best, retaining the same volume of green areas when what we should be doing is seeing how to increase them.

There were instances where the government listened to the cries of the people and reversed stupid decisions. It seems, however, that the hunting lobby remains to powerful and that, as always, it will get its way.