Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1484063
maltatoday | SUNDAY •13 NOVEMBER 2022 9 INTERVIEW Hondoq is truly safe' you enemies: including within your own party? I see what you're saying, but… personally, I believe it is all down to certain well-known contrac- tors, and business people, ex- erting pressure from behind the scenes. And I'll tell you why, too. Be- cause I am very popular, here in Qala. Bear in mind that – be- fore the first local council I ever contested, in 2007 – the Labour Party had never managed to elect even a single councillor, from Qala… let alone, end up with a majority of seats in the council, as it has today. In was in the first election that I contested, that Labour managed to elect two councillors – myself, and one of my colleagues – and, on the top of that, after just two years as mayor, the Labour Par- ty also managed to obtain four whole quotas, in the last election. I alone got two quotas; and in around 200 of those ballot sheets, I was given the 'number one' preference… with all the rest of the preferences going to Nation- alist candidates. You can check this for yourself, in the Electoral Commission's data. Now: what does all this mean? Certainly, it does not mean that I am a 'problem' for the Labour Party. And yet: where did all these attacks, and conspiracies, come from? Why would there be internal manoeuvres to have me kicked out, as Qala mayor… if not because my actions had an- noyed certain people, who have a lot of power and influence? Judging by your own examples – which involve national insti- tutions such as the law-courts, among others – these people also wield a lot of power over government, and the mechan- ics of the State in general. Do you think their influence ex- tends that high up the political ladder? Yes, I do. Even that case of 'conflict of interest' I mentioned earlier, is proof enough. Let me put this way: when I contacted one of the newspapers that print- ed the story, back in 2020, I was told that: "Listen, we know that it was a 'cucata'; and if we were up to us, we wouldn't even have run a story about a direct order for just €60. But we were 'under pressure', to print the story…" Excuse me for interrupting, but you keep referring to 'certain people' – and now, 'certain newspapers' – only in a generic sense. Can you be more specif- ic? Who do you think is behind all these manoeuvres, anyway? I would rather not mention any names, for now. But what I can tell you is that… if the worst comes to the worst, I will cer- tainly reveal everything I know – names, and all – about every single case. For now, however, I would rather keep that informa- tion to myself. Fair enough. Meanwhile, in our last interview, you also talked about a 'culture of fear' that exists in Gozo: whereby people are afraid to speak out open- ly; but then, make their voic- es heard when in the privacy of the voting cubicle. Do you think that the Hondoq decision may pave the way to a gradual lifting of this fear? That – en- couraged by the halting of such an unpopular project – people might be less intimidated by this seemingly all-powerful business lobby? For starters, I wouldn't say this 'culture of fear' exists only in Gozo. It happens in Malta, too. But the fact remains that Gozo is a very small place; and as such, there are inevitably going to be repercussions, for speaking out in the open. There could be many reasons, why Gozitans are afraid to speak up. Some might be reluctant to talk about certain contractors… because they once bought a prop- erty from them; or because their son or daughter is employed, within a business that has con- nections with them; or because they themselves fear being trans- ferred, in their own jobs… And this is not something that has only cropped up recently. Truth be told, it's always been this way; and I doubt it will ever change in future, either. On another level, however: as you yourself put it, the Gozitans – and Maltese, too – then use elections, as a way of 'giving politicians an answer'. And it's not the only way they express themselves, either. Ever since the Hondoq decision, I have received countless messages of congrat- ulations, coming from all sorts of people. And they always say the same thing: "I wish I could tell you this in public, but… you know how it is. I can't." And just to give you an idea of how extensive this pressure is: I even know of people whose on- line chats on social media – all their 'likes', and comments, and so on – were monitored; and they were approached afterwards, and told to 'be careful' about what they say in public. There were even cases were people first commented posi- tively; then deleted their own comments a little later. But in the words of one of those people, who spoke to me afterwards… he told me: "I had to delete that comment, because I was afraid; but you can rest assured that when the time comes, I'll be vot- ing for you again." Turning to your efforts against overdevelopment: the Hondoq permit may have been reject- ed… but other threats remain, such as the Gozo-Malta tunnel project. Recently, a group of Gozitan businessmen urged the government to resume this project: arguing that it would not bring about the predicted catastrophic effects; and also, that the tunnel is 'needed' for Gozo's economic development. How do you respond to those arguments? I can say a few words, on that. First of all, I believe that a tunnel between Malta and Gozo, would only result in the continued de- struction of our beautiful island. Because: OK, it's true that having a tunnel might save people a few minutes, to cross the Channel… but, for heaven's sake: doesn't it also mean that the traffic that is already such a problem in Mal- ta, will simply end up affecting Gozo, too? And another thing: as mayor, I get approached by a lot of people – including foreigners: some of whom are experts in such mat- ters – and to quote one of them, recently: 'You've got to be cra- zy, to even contemplate such an idea'. Having worked out all the fig- ures, in front of me, on a piece of paper: he concluded that a tunnel is not viable, for the amount of people who will end up using it. Considering how much it would cost to actually build; and how much it can be expected to gen- erate in revenue… it's simply not worth it. That's not to mention all the dif- ficulties that will no doubt arise, during the construction process. Let's face it: even here in Qala, when the council undertakes some kind of excavation work… on paper, it might look like a low- cost project, to begin with; but then, you encounter a little clay, under the surface… and just like that, your costs suddenly shoot though the roof. Can you imagine, then, what they will find when they start tunnelling under the seabed be- tween Gozo and Malta? And how much the costs will go up, with each new unexpected 'obstacle' that they uncover? No, no: a tunnel between Malta and Gozo will not just be the ruin of Gozo… but of Malta, as well. Because it will end up bankrupt- ing the entire country… Lastly, the Hondoq decision may have halted that particu- lar project: but there is nothing stopping the developers from trying their luck again; and they might also sell the land to third parties, who might be in- terested in developing it them- selves. How convinced are you that Hondoq has, in fact, been saved? As I said on many occasions in the past: the threat to Hondoq will always remain, so long as it remains possible to ever develop the area in any way. This is why I have consistently argued that the government must either buy Hondoq; or expropriate it; or else, designate it as an ODZ area, or a national park. As for myself: I will not rest, un- til Hondoq is truly safe from de- velopment...