Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1501168
FOR years now, since the as- cendancy of Joseph Muscat and subsequently the election of Robert Abela as prime minister and leader of the Labour Party, the standard answer to any re- quest to review the local plans introduced by the Gonzi ad- ministration and spearheaded by George Pullicino has been a standard riposte: "We cannot review these local plans since it would set a legal precedent." In other words: 'If we change the local plans we will be faced with court actions by land own- ers calling for compensation from the government.' This is not only a lame excuse but a bogus argument. If this was correct, then the best political decision would be to scrap Project Green and divert all the millions being spent there to compensate the lucky owners of the lands that were included in the local plans (according to Labour in 2006 in a corrupt man- ner). In my eyes and the eyes of many, nothing is more important and vital than the preservation of this country's unspoilt footprint. In other words; give me terraced fields, patches of carob trees and garigue rather than a well organ- ised irrigated garden with exotic trees and pathways created to give us a false illusion of a green paradise in an urban setting. And yet the argument that the local plans and policies cannot be changed does not seem to have had an impact on the changes made at the Planning Authority by this administration. The new height limitation policies in- troduced after 2013 altered our skylines and the small changes in policy for rural dwellings have seen our countryside sprouting villas and bungalows by the doz- en. Not to mention the policies which challenged the meaning of our urban conservation areas. The changes to the policies fell in line with the demands of the Malta Developers Association then captained by Sandro Checu- ti and allowed the building indus- try to pillage what is left of our country in urban areas and the countryside. Malta and Gozo is a veritable picture postcard of Bei- rut, or shall we say Kharkiv. To placate the environmental lobby which until now has been disjointed and not coordinat- ed, various agencies have been created. From ERA, which is a toothless animal with limited ex- ecutive powers, to a plethora of other agencies that supposedly regulated activities in the greater design of things. We have the Wild Birds Regu- lation Unit (WBRU) responsible for making hunters more priv- ileged under the wings of the Gozo Ministry (because the Gozo minister is a hunter); the Malta Tourism Authority with the re- sponsibility to issue licences to certain activities related to tour- ism, including managing Comi- no; and others such as Ambjent Malta (or is it Project Green?) re- sponsible for the preservation of biodiversity. The latest incarnation of a gov- ernment agency is Project Green, which has the noble aim of greening our urban areas backed by a massive budget. All initi- atives do not seem to remotely placate the environmental lobby who thankfully can see through the smokescreen. There are oth- er agencies, but it would take out too much space here. And please note I have left out the Planning Authority for fear of stating the obvious. Reacting to this new movement of environmentalists, politicians are trying their best to show that they care. Most of the leading politicians are too close to the building industry to be sincere about this. Others know that the economy is buzzing primarily because of the real estate indus- try and embracing this industry under the false impression that everyone is a dependant on it. And politicians continue to be- lieve that people will not vote on environmental issues. There are indications that this may not be the case anymore and not voting is a consideration that politicians need to address. The latest reaction to this en- vironmental revival has led the Nationalist Party to call for an addition to the Constitution that safeguards the rights of the en- vironment and the right of the individual to raise hell whenever they see fit. Anyone with a remote under- standing of the Constitution knows all too well that this is to- kenism at its best. You cannot get any sillier. We need to get real about the environment. We are past being apologetic about the way we have mistreat- ed our environment. I do not really care if people get offend- ed. When we pass to the other world, the footprint that would have been built over will never be returned to out future gener- ations. The only thing left will be the roads named after politicians, and the bronze statues of our Prime Ministers. Robert Abela has an obligation to his country and to no one else, to take the plunge and take the decisions that will save this coun- try from anarchy and greed. He needs a long term vision against short term gain. To argue that the local plans cannot change is false. In the south of France and Spain, elect- ed officials reviewed their plan- ning policies and pulled down ugly hotels that had ruined their beaches. They took courageous decisions that were supported by the public and civil society. In Malta this should have hap- pened when the old Excelsior was wrecked and demolished for an- other hotel. The values of 1969, which accepted the fact that the Valletta bastions could be spoilt by a hotel (though Din l-Art Hel- wa under the worthy leadership of Maurice Caruana Curran ob- jected to this) surely have been overshadowed by the new values of 2023. Protecting our national foot- print is all about courage and the belief that we owe it to our chil- dren that they inherit a country which they can be proud of. Be- yond the bank accounts, opulent homes and fast cars, we also have a country to look after. The Lorry Sants, George Pulli- cinos and other politicians and government appointed cronies who found more pleasure in ce- ment and asphalt will be remem- bered for disfiguring this coun- try. I will make sure that they will remembered that way. There is one last chance, and whether he likes it or not the im- mediate future of our threatened countryside and country is in the Prime Minister's hands. The time to act is now. maltatoday | SUNDAY • 11 JUNE 2023 OPINION 5 Saviour Balzan If it is wrong, then bloody well fix it Saviour Balzan is founder and co-owner of Media Today, publisher of MaltaToday, he is a TV host and pollster The Planning Authority issues a permit in the environs of a government owned Natura 2000 site managed by Birdlife Malta. A decision which shows the tunnel vision of this authority and its intention to serve the building lobby without question