Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1305625
6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 1 NOVEMBER 2020 NEWS MATTHEW AGIUS A group of NGOs and activists gathered outside Castille yesterday morning to protest the hand-ing over of Miżieb and l-Aħrax to hunting lobby FKNK. Wearing t-shirts emblazoned with the Spazji Miftuha logo, the young volun- teers brought placards and a PA system to the event. "Many times we hear the government talking about the economic gains made by our country," activist Josianne Mi- callef told the crowd, "but the govern- ment must recognize the difference between economic gain and monetary gain. Money isn't everything, and votes much less. The important thing is the health of the population. The important thing is the quality of life of the Maltese and Gozitan people. The natural envi- ronment, cultural heritage and health go hand in hand and cannot be ignored in calculating the economic wellbeing of a country." Describing the transfer of land as "an obscenity", she said that the Prime Min- ister had to understand that this act could not be measured with the same yardstick as the granting of much small- er parcels of land to environmentalist and cultural NGOs. "These NGOs work for the common good and not in the in- terest of a few of its members." The event comes a day after a group of environmental organisations launched a legal challenge to the deed through which the Government granted guard- ianship of Aħrax and Miżieb to FKNK. The challenge was filed before the Ad- ministrative Review Tribunal. Lawyer Claire Bonello is representing Birdlife Malta, Moviment Graffitti, Din L-Art Helwa, Friends of the Earth (Mal- ta), Flimkien Ghal Ambjent Ahjar and Prof. Edward Mallia. Lawyers Joseph Ellis and Martin Farrugia will be rep- resenting The Ramblers' Association of Malta in this case. The NGOs will be collectively chal- lenging the Lands Authority on a num- ber of grounds. The NGOs are claiming that the Authority has acted in an arbitrary, non-transparent, discriminatory and unreasonable manner and that it has committed numerous procedural vio- lations resulting in it acting outside its powers as established by law. "The irrelevant and improper consid- erations used by the Lands Authority to assess and award the concession will result in the public's enjoyment of the countryside found in these sites to be curtailed for large swathes of the year, all to accommodate a minority of FKNK's members," they said in a statement. The NGOs argue that EU law was breached when the Government failed to conduct any of the required studies in order to determine and evaluate the environmental impacts of such a large concession. "The NGOs believe that the concession of these two areas for the risible sum of €400 in order to entertain a pastime will also result in lost revenue which should have been accrued towards the Environ- ment Fund." The deed is also being challenged on the grounds that it requires the Minis- ter responsible for hunting to employ a number of 'conservation officers' from the public purse who will then be man- aged by FKNK. It is being claimed that since a Minister is not a public officer at law, he has no legal power to direct- ly employ people into the public service for this purpose. The plaintiffs are also claiming that the terms of the agreement encroach on public domain areas in contravention to Public Domain law and the Protocol re- garding Coastal Zone Management. Activists mount challenge to woodlands grant Josianne Micallef: "The government must recognize the difference between economic gain and monetary gain. Money isn't everything, and votes much less."