Environmental NGOs have pointed out that in spite of many promises related to the upkeep and protection of Comino, the island is becoming more of a garbage dump while insisting that access to should be limited.

Both in 2021 and 2022, Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo promised that a plan would be in effect for the following year. Earlier this year, he mentioned that some changes will be implemented for this summer, but again the ‘holistic plan’ remains altogether inexistent. Although, the deckchairs were reduced by 65% from Blue Lagoon, these were transferred to another part of the island, the NGOs said.

“Throughout the year we have organised multiple clean-ups around the picturesque island of Comino. Although the island is protected under numerous policies, parts of it have fallen victim to negligence, shabbiness, and lack of enforcement. Altogether we have collected around 210 garbage bags, this all being from just the area around the old hospital,” they said.

This summer, we decided to re-visit the island to see how the increase in visitors is affecting its environment. While hiking from Blue Lagoon to Santa Marija Bay to the Old Hospital and back, we drew these observations: - By no less then 8:15 am, sunbeds were already placed on the garigue. While the cleaners are surely trying their best to manage the tide of garbage generated every day, they are clearly not managing, as the volume of waste keeps increasing at an alarming rate, the NGOS said.

The number of bins needed to cater for the number of tourists visiting the island has not only become a hotspot for dumping around them but also a massive eyesore. This is quite alarming, knowing that 7 years ago ERA published the Natura 2000 Management Plan for Comino.

This clearly outlines the importance of implementing a tourism carrying capacity assessment, in order to provide recommendations for the management of the area, the NGOs said. This should have been completed after the first-year implementation of the management plan, but unfortunately nothing has been done.

The Management Plan also highlighted the importance of controlling access to certain areas of the island to protect flora and fauna, and also to avoid conflicting activities (water sports, kiosks, hiring of umbrellas and deckchairs) which restricted the use of private areas on the foreshore. Unfortunately, this plan has never come to fruition, except for a few promises by Bartolo.

While the minister was quoted saying. ‘…we are making sure that the garigue is protected and that no umbrellas and deckchairs are placed on them, but are placed on the rocks,’ however this evidence clearly shows that this is not the case. In addition, he had stated that the cleaners were going to have an ‘extra shift’ to better clean the island. Although this has surely helped minimize the impact, the amount of waste being generated is simply too much.

Thus, this shows that the system (or lack of it) used in Comino is completely insufficient and inadequate, as it only focuses on the economic aspect. This lack of planning is not only harming the environment, with the increase in noise, light and general pollution, but also the economic pg. 2 aspect. As the shabby and run down ‘touristic’ areas of the island are negatively impacting the number of visitors. Implying that we are shooting ourselves in the foot, as clearly pointed out by the tourists themselves (refer to the section ‘Recent Reviews’). It’s time to finally act on the Natura 2000 Management Plan, in order to have a holistic plan for the island, as this surely cannot go on for another year. Or at least, if no plan is in the pipeline, the level of enforcement surely needs to increase (EPU, Env-Rangers, etc…).

This statement by Nadur Nadif has been endorsed by: Din l- Art Ħelwa, FAA Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar, Bird Life, Għawdix, Wirt Għawdex, Nature Trust and KSU.