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2 maltatoday EXECUTIVE EDITOR Matthew Vella MANAGING EDITOR Saviour Balzan Letters to the Editor, MaltaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt Letters must be concise, no pen names accepted, include full name and address maltatoday | SUNDAY • 11 OCTOBER 2020 A cowardly government held at gun-point Editorial ALTHOUGH not immediately connected, two stories that emerged this week (on the same day, in fact) speak volumes about the sheer extent to which Malta's political establishment is enthralled to cer- tain powerful lobby-groups. The first was the announcement of a deal be- tween government and the federations represent- ing the local hunting community, whereby the latter were granted control over two large tracts of public land, in Miżieb and L-Aħrax respective- ly. The second was the umpteenth report of a massacre of protected species, during what has proven to be the worst Autumn season on record for hunting illegalities: this time, a flock of at least 12 short-toed eagles gunned down in Gozo. In different ways, both these events illustrate how the present government has simply caved in to all the hunters' demands – without achieving any visible progress when it comes to properly regulating the practice of hunting in Malta. It is, in fact, no coincidence at all that the illegal hunting situation has deteriorated so drastically in recent months and years. Those 12 short-toed eagles have to be added to at least 618 protected species that were retrieved by Birdlife Malta, after being shot by hunters, since 2013: 70% of which were shot over the last four years. And this can only be described as the inevitable result of Abela's policy to appease the hunting community at all costs. Over the past 12 months alone, government has taken a number of initiatives aimed at weakening Malta's environmental enforcement infrastructure. These include the bizarre and inexplicable decision to remove the Wild Birds Regulatory Unit from the auspices of the Envi- ronment Ministry – where is so clearly belongs – and place it instead within the remit of the Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri: who is himself a hunter, and therefore caught up in a clear and unequivo- cal conflict of interest. Another was the decision to limit the number of Administrative Law Enforcement officers to a mere handful; whilst also permitting the Spring season to open as usual, despite the health re- strictions imposed on practically all other activi- ties because of COVID-19. In a nutshell, the present government has on the one hand maximized the scope for illegal hunting to take place; and on the other, mini- mised the ability of law enforcement to monitor the countryside for illegalities. Hardly surprising, then, that an already lawless situation would spiral so completely out of con- trol. It is against this backdrop that the Miżieb and L-Aħrax hand-over must be adjudicated: all the more so, because Minister Ian Borg justified this decision by claiming that the hunters "had done a good job" of administering those sites in the past. Even if true, this is hardly a valid excuse to sign away large areas of public land – in a country where open spaces are already at a premium – and limit public accessibility only to when there is no hunting season: which includes both the two-week spring hunting season, but also an au- tumn season that lasts five whole months (from September to January). Unfortunately, however, Borg's claim is an- ything but the truth: as can be attested by the sheer amount of illegalities reported in those areas in the past. In 2009 and 2010, for instance, birdwatchers had found a 'cemetery' of more than 270 dead protected birds in all parts of Miżieb: and similar macabre discoveries were sporadically made – al- beit on a smaller scale – until at least 2014. Il-Miżieb was also the scene of at least two violent assaults on birdwatchers by hunters; and while it would be unfair to hold associations like the FKNK directly responsible for such crimes, these incidents amply suggest that the hunters' federation is – at best – unable to control the more lawless elements within its community. As such, it is unconscionable that the same organisation would be granted full control over the areas in question, for a mere €400 a year; and even, under the terms of the agreement signed yesterday, permitted to draw up their own pro- ject plan to determine which areas are accessible to the public or not in both sites. To add insult to injury, the FKNK has only been obliged to ensure that no illegalities take place in the sites "within [the FKNK's] reasonable power". Given its past track record, it is clear that the hunters' federation has neither the 'reasona- ble power', nor even the will to tackle illegalities: not in Il-Miżieb or l-Aħrax, or even anywhere else where hunting and trapping is practised – with impunity - in Malta. Perhaps the shabbiest aspect of this deal, how- ever, is that it merely concretises the popular perception of a government that is – almost lit- erally, in this case – held at gun-point by a single lobby-group. One can only wonder how long the European Union will continue to tolerate such a blatant travesty of environmental management, in one of its member states. 10 October, 2010 MEPA paves way for mega-embassy MEPA paves way for mega-embassy in Pembroke in Pembroke THE Malta Environment and Plan- ning Authority (MEPA) has presented amendments to the North Harbour Plan to accommodate a massive new embas- sy on a tract of presently undeveloped land, adjacent to Suffolk Street in Pem- broke. Official government sources have confirmed that the land is earmarked for a new Chinese embassy, which is to be relocated from St Julian's. In the local plan approved by the government in 2006, the area now ear- marked for an embassy was allocated for the development of three storey high maisonettes and flats on the condition that mature trees found in the area are safeguarded. The embassy will be constructed with- in development zones, as the area was already schemed for development since the 1990s, even though it has remained undeveloped. The local plan stipulated that a max- imum of 304 new housing units could be built in this zone, as well as in anoth- er area of the same size in Pembroke, which was also allocated to housing in the local plan. The objective of the new amendment to the local plan is "to indicate that the development of an embassy on the site is acceptable" and to improve the road network in the vicinity of the site. In February 2007, MaltaToday report- ed that China had asked the government for a plot of land of up to 10,000 square metres in Pembroke — a prime site that has been earmarked for development by foreign powers since World War II. The land earmarked in the local plan changes – roughly the size of the exist- ing Pembroke cemetery — is significant- ly smaller than that envisaged in 2007, but still considerably larger than the present Chinese embassy in St Julian's. ... Quote of the Week "Hunters and trappers know where they stand with this government because it never tried to fool them." Gozo minister Clint Camilleri on signing off the Miżieb and l-Aħrax woodlands MaltaToday 10 years ago