Malta "urgently needs" a holistic master plan and revised local plans supported with clear policies which do not leave room for abusive exploitation in their interpretation and application, the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry said in proposals for the upcoming budget.

Calls for better planning, clearer policies and an end to development abuse have been aired by so many sectors of society over the years that one wonders whether the government is just choosing not to listen, or is purposely allowing the uglification of Malta to take place. Either way, action needed to be taken years ago, and it is already late in the day.

Look around as, at our villages and towns. So much has changed over the years. Some areas have managed to retain their character, but they are becoming fewer in number.

Now one can argue that Malta needs to build upwards given the current population, but we could have, at least, but we could have, at least, observed certain uniformity in our streets, or even attempted to create good looking buildings.

But no, the successive governments allowed shoe boxes to be built, resulting in the Malta we have today. Gozo is getting there also, just a few more years.

"The development and construction industry must improve and evolve with full respect for Malta and Gozo's heritage, history, culture, natural environment and well-being," the Chamber said. "The ad hoc planning approach adopted over the years has uglified Malta, created uncertainty, excessive speculation and a non-level playing field between industry players as well as the general public," it continued. The Malta Chamber believes that a piecemeal approach to planning goes against the very spirit of planning itself. "Development Brief changes, Partial Reviews and incongruent policy interpretation and applications must stop."

Prime Minister, the ball is firmly in your court, as it has been since you took office. We expect you to take action, to ensure that policies are implemented that will stop the uglification of our islands and which will, hopefully down the line when new buildings are built, result in more good looking localities.

Talk to environment NGOs, talk to the people and see what they want. Then draft new policies to improve the look of Malta.

Ask yourselves... would people prefer coming to Malta or going to Sicily? Would they prefer coming to Malta, or heading to one of the Greek islands? Malta isn't the only island in the Mediterranean. Tourists have options after all. If it were you, would you holiday here or pick elsewhere?

We need to think carefully about what we want for Malta. We must protect our green spaces. We must beautify our streets through urban greening, a road which the government has started going down. We need aesthetics policies and to ensure that the facades on our roads are not a hotchpotch mismatch of ugly designs, but ones that are pleasant to look at. Our future generations will hold our current politicians responsible.