Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1365202
9 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 25 APRIL 2021 INTERVIEW return to ODZ, at all costs… that little cubicle, that they feel they can speak out without fear, for a change. And what happened? I dou- bled my votes since the last elec- tion. It was an all-time record for the Labour Party, too: the first time Labour ever got more than four quotas. So I think it's a clear message, that the people of Qala – even the Nationalists: because I am mayor of all Qala, and everyone knows this – are on my side. And I'm going to be blunt here, Gozitan-style: the only people who are against me, are the ones who want to 'screw others over'… If I'm understanding correct- ly, you feel you have the tac- it support of a large, silent, cross-party majority. But how much of this, would you say, is really attributable to your own concerns about over-develop- ment in Gozo? Bear in mind that mayors take their actions on the basis of what their residents tell them. So even the fact that such a large majority got together… it can only mean that everyone is hear- ing the same complaints. And I know for a fact that they are. We talk to each other a lot, as mayors; and while I won't repeat what is said in private conversa- tions, I can easily confirm… that, yes, everyone is worried [about over-development]. A lot. And yet: it is always the old names that seem to crop up in relation to these mega-pro- jects. How do you account for contractors like Joseph Portelli having so much power? And do you see any correlation be- tween the actions of these indi- viduals, and the 'pro-business' policies of the present govern- ment? Look: I don't want to speak out too openly; you have enough sense to work it out for yourself. These contractors have always been there, under both parties. And who's running the entire world, if not billionaires? How many billionaires are there? Not that many, probably… but I can assure you, they're the ones run- ning the show. Like Monsanto, to give just one example. How many people are actually at the top of that company? 20? 30? I don't know: but look how much power they have, all over the world… This raises the question of how much power is needed to resist the development drive. In that meeting, you proposed that funds should be made availa- ble for local councils, to assist in the appeals process. Can you elaborate? What sort of re- sources are actually required, to contest a planning permit in Gozo? First of all, my proposal– and I'm pleased to say was very well received – was that the Gozo Regional Council would start re- funding us at least a percentage (I suggested 50%) of all the mon- ey we spend on appeals. Because, to give just one example: in the case of Ħondoq ir-Rummien alone [threatened by a proposed hotel/yacht marina complex], we spent at least €30,000 over the past 19 years. At least. And if I told you how much we had to pay for this consultant, or that report; or how much I had to run around Malta and Gozo, out of my own pocket, to attend board meetings, and so on… not to mention all the hours I've put into it, and all the work I've lost… it all adds up to thousands. And when you bear in mind what we're up against: people who can easily afford the best architects, the best lawyers, the best everything… it is very obvi- ously not a level-playing field. So if we are going to try and level it out: local councils do need addi- tional resources. And hopefully, my proposal will be considered in that light… You also hinted that local coun- cils should be given more of a 'say' in the final decision, as it were. How do you see that happening in practice? Should local councils be given perma- nent representation on the PA Board, for instance? I'm unaware that we're specif- ically asking for 'representation on the PA Board'; but what we're all asking, quite frankly, is that decisions are not taken behind our backs. In the case of Qala, for in- stance, the local plans regarding Ħondoq were changed in 2006, without notifying to the council. From an area designated for 'Af- forestation', it became for 'Tour- istic and Marine-Related Activi- ties'… behind the council's back. I have entire correspondence records - dating back to former Qala mayor, my namesake Paul Buttigieg - to support what I'm saying. This is the sort of thing we'd like to see changed, once and for all. The Hondoq ir-Rummien pro- ject has in a sense become emblematic for the resistance to over-development in gen- eral. It is one of Gozo's most scenic, pristine environments; yet it has been under siege by developers for years. Your lat- est proposal is for the bay to be removed from the development zone altogether, once and for all… Yes. Because the Ħondoq case, as you know, was actually given a final decision around four or five years ago. It was a flat re- fusal. The developers, however, appealed… as is their right… but they appealed on a number of very specific grounds. I wont go into detail, but we spent two whole years discuss- ing those specific objections at the Appeals Board; only so that, when the decision was finally reached… it was to uphold the appeal, only on a minor techni- cality. Because 'an email wasn't sent on time'… [Pause] I mean, just look at the absurdity: until that point, we were going to decide the fate of a treasure like Ħondoq ir-Rum- mien, on the basis of such a mi- nor technicality. An email… Meanwhile, they don't look at the thousands of people who signed petitions against this project; they don't look at a ref- erendum, in which 85% of Qa- la residents voted against; they don't look at a Social Impact As- sessment, featuring a damning report compiled by no less than the late Prof. Jeremy Boissevain – who didn't even charge us a cent for it: God give him all the blessings he deserves… all of it, telling them that this project is madness. No, they didn't look at any of that; but then, they saw that an email wasn't sent on time… and decided to approve the project, just because of that. At that moment – I can tell you, tears were coming out of my eyes – I decided that we had to appeal against this; this time in the law-courts, and at whatev- er the cost. I said it at the time, and I'll repeat it now: 'Ħondoq is priceless; once it's gone, there will be no use crying over it'. So we took it to court; and, nat- urally, the Planning Authority also opened a case of their own. Good luck to them… but here I have to publicly thank lawyer Claire Bonello, who made the case for us much better than I can. First, she gave all the rea- sons why the Appeals Board should never have reached that verdict at all. Then she quoted from a ruling, handed down by the same magistrate, which es- tablished a precedent, on a case analogous to ours. Thanks to her, anyone who looks can see who is right, and who is wrong... But what really worries me is that the threat will still remain, so long as it remains possible to develop Ħondoq in future. This is why I'm pushing for the area to be firmly demarcated as 'ODZ'; because at the moments, things are not clear. It is true that the case officer, in this project, has identified Ħondoq as 'ODZ'; but just be- cause one case-officer reaches that conclusion, it doesn't mean that others will not decide dif- ferently in another case. And to be honest… I don't trust anyone anymore… Are you hopeful that Hondoq can still be saved? I am hopeful, yes. Because you have to understand what Ħon- doq really means to us, here… all the comments people post, whenever I upload photos… all the messages I receive in private, from people who want to com- ment, but are afraid to… and it cannot be a coincidence that we have all the support from profes- sors and University academics; from everybody, really. Everyone can see that Ħondoq is special, and has to be pre- served. So it would be political suicide, for any political party to ever give this project the go- ahead. Of that, I'm 100% certain.