Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1498223
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 30 APRIL 2023 OPINION 11 erty, like you've always done before. (But hey, not to worry! We'll send tonnes of UN aid, promise! And Bono, too! In fact: you can even keep him, if you like... you know, as a token of our eternal 'Good Will'...)" Right: that's about as far as I'll go with the 'Climate Change' part, for now; because, well, you should already be seeing more or less where 'the island of Gozo' (and the overdevel- opment thereof) actually 'fits', into all this. I could, of course, carry on in the same vein – i.e., by pointing out how, over the past 30-or-so years, Malta has experienced a never-ending 'construction and development boom'; and how the resulting econom- ic expansion – not unlike the Industrial Revolution before it – similarly brought about mas- sive financial benefits, to all the industries/entrepreneurs in- volved... as well as devastating, irreparable damage to Malta's environment, as a whole. I could also add that Gozo, over the same period, has re- mained largely 'unscathed' by the same construction-frenzy (or at least, it HAD, until only very recently).... ... and I'd be able to stop there, wouldn't I? Because if you were to simply re-read this article from the beginning, and replace 'Climate Change' with 'Construction'; and the 'De- veloped/Developing Worlds', with 'Malta and Gozo', respec- tively... ... you'd be looking at precise- ly the same sort of scenario, all over again. It's yet another case where one 'part of the world' (Malta, in this case) simply turns to another (Gozo), and says: "Sorry, sister! But YOU are not allowed to do, what WE have been doing, to to our hearts' content, for 30 years or more!" [and are still doing to- day, please note: more of which in a sec]. But let me try a different tack instead. This week, it was re- ported that Christian Zammit resigned from his position as Xaghra mayor: citing, among other things, a continuous 'whispering campaign' against him, orchestrated from with- in his own Labour Party (from which he also resigned). The following sentence leaps to the eye: "Gozitans were be- ing told he [Zammit] would stop development permits, eradicate apartment blocks and fifth-floor penthouses, slap strong fines for infringements, and 'pinch their pockets'..." Now: one way of interpreting that would be: "Christian Zam- mit was eventually 'hounded out of office', because he was trying to spare his home-town of Xaghra – and presumably, the rest of Gozo – from sharing the same fate as her long-suf- fering sister-island, Malta..." That is to say: he wanted to avoid a situation whereby Gozo was similarly 'raped' by endless 'development permits, apartment blocks, fifth-floor penthouses', and so on... to the point where its inhabitants suffer the same negative conse- quences – on their health, their safety, their quality of life, etc. – that we in Malta are suffer- ing, on a daily basis, right now. But while that is, indeed, how I myself interpret the situa- tion... it remains (let's be hon- est) an intensely 'Malta-cen- tric' perspective. Another way to interpret that 'whispering campaign' is... well, from the perspective of the Gozitans to whom it was actu- ally addressed; and to some of whose ears, must have sounded a lot like: "Yes, of course the Maltese would tell you to 'stop over-de- veloping your own island'! Af- ter all, they've already made their own 'small fortunes', by simply cashing in on the re-de- velopment their own private properties... so now, they want stop YOU from doing the same thing, in order to preserve YOUR island as an 'idyllic hol- iday-spot' (or a 'preserpju', to use the local jargon)... FOR THEMSELVES!" And much as it pains me to have to say this: it's not an ar- gument that can very easily be countered, in practical terms. For while that perspective might be somewhat 'flawed', on a logical basis... you can hardly describe it as 'factually incor- rect', can you? No, indeed. It is perfectly true that most Maltese environ- mentalists (myself included) attach a special environmental significance to Gozo, precisely because it remains relatively 'unspoilt'... just as it is equal- ly true, that it would be in the Gozitans' own interest to actu- ally keep their island that way, for as long as humanly possi- ble... And so – just to avoid ending on such a dismal note – allow me to propose a third possible 'interpretation', instead (one which also applies to the is- sue of Climate Change, by the way... but that's just an aside). Yes, Gozitans are quite right to feel aggrieved, that they themselves are being pressured to 'forego' the same opportuni- ties, that their counterparts in Malta have been availing of for years... ... not least, because – even as we, here in Malta, entreat the Gozitans to 'respect their own environment' (for its own sake, by the way; not just for 'theirs' or 'ours') – well, it's not exact- ly as though we're 'practising what we preach' here on our own island, is it? So unless we ourselves start putting our 'money where our mouth us', here in Malta... and actually EMULATE (instead of merely 'applauding') the efforts of mayors like Xaghra's Chris- tian Zammit; Gzira's Conrad Borg Manche; and Qala's Paul Buttigieg, in trying to halt this never-ending cycle of 'environ- mental violence'... ... well, we can't hardly expect the Gozitans – or anyone else on the entire planet, for that matter – to behave any differ- ently, on what is, after all, their own 'home-turf'... can we, now? For the past couple of centuries, those parts of the world we now refer to as 'developed' – Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia, etc. – have been undergoing an intense process of 'industrialisation'