Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/224217
3 News maltatoday, SUNDAY, 8 DECEMBER 2013 TIM ATTARD MONTALTO THE first national environmental protest convened under a Labour government was marked yesterday with a significant crowd of almost 500 thronging into Valletta, in protest at the suitably coined 'mistrafication' of urban cores and rural areas. Originally planned for last week before inclement weather forced a postponement, environmental NGOs led protestors into Republic Street holding placards and banners that, as usual, held up the Malta Environment and Planning Authority to contempt for its controversial planning decisions. The recent decision to grant a Kuwaiti business group permission to develop a 770-apartment complex on Mistra ridge, followed by an ombudsman's report declaring that a secret MEPA board meeting over whether to revoke or not the permit was illegal, provided the backdrop to yesterday's protest. An unfamiliar site were the handful of Nationalist MPs who, unburdened with the embarrassing greenwash of the former administration, were now down in the streets with the rest of the protestors complaining whether anything would actually change with Malta's planners and politicians. Faces included Charlò Bonnici and Jason Azzopardi, while as expected Alternattiva Demokratika had a strong presence with Green Party leaders Arnold Cassola PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD Civil society reawakens in protest at controversial MEPA decisions Flimkien Ghal Ambjent Ahjar coordinator Astrid Vella speaking during yesterday's environmental protest in Valletta. FAA were joined by a number of other environmental NGOs during the protest walk, originally set to take place last week and Carmel Cacopardo on the front line. The theme of the protest read 'for our children', a simple message against the culture of over-development in Malta. By 10am, protestors starting filling up the space by City Gate, now the familiar starting point for protest marches along Republic Street. Troubadours Tribali provided the drumming that scored the slow pace of the protestor as they walked down Valletta, stopping outside the law courts. It was at this point that various NGO representatives made their messages clear. Simone Mizzi, president of Din lArt Helwa, was the first on the podium, saying that government seemed unconcerned with the environment and all it offers, claiming that it served only as 'a source of money' for politicians. She described the project at Mistra as "monstrous" and that it was "conceived by one government and given birth by another". In fact, the controversial granting of the outline permit in 2008 and its renewal earlier this year was the catalyst for the protest. "The law is not protecting the environment as it should and the recent case of the 700 apartments in Mistra is a clear example of the abuse that is taking place, where the planning authority's laws are being broken," Mizzi said. "We do not want our children and their children growing up in a cement-filled world," she said, urg- ing government to not allow her words to fall on "hearts of cement". Astrid Vella from Flimkien Ghal Ambjent Ahjar said that people were "fed up of all the lies" that government was spreading. "We are all sick of hearing whether we need to build horizontally or vertically. The truth is that we do not need to build at all!" she cried out, while referring to the 40,000 vacant properties on the island. "We're not against progress, but progress has to be sustainable. We are in favour of responsible progress and development, which is far from what we are getting at the moment," she said. Chris Mizzi, from left-wing organisation Graffitti called on protestors to use their vote as a sign of protest. "Political parties, in times of campaigning, market themselves out to be greener than green activists, and when in government, bigger developers than the developers themselves. If they are afraid that they will lose votes to developers, well they will need to realise that our votes count just as much," he said, amid calls from the crowd saying: "it's because we do not have money" that their vote seemingly counted for less. A spokesperson from Youth for the Environment said that Malta was losing much of its green and open spaces to developers, and that this was a concern because the less contact and access people have to nature, the less they could care for it. Earlier this week, green party AD and Flimkien ghal-Ambjent Ahjar separately called for the resignation of the MEPA board following the publication of a damning report by the Commissioner for the Environment and Planning, which siad that the outline permit granted by MEPA in 2008 could have been revoked and that the decision not do so was illegally taken behind closed doors by the current board. On Friday, the NGOs published an 'environment manifesto' which outlined the "the planning and environmental reform that Malta really needs." The NGOs explained that in opposition to policies favouring further unsustainable development, the manifesto outlined what must be done to protect the country's heritage, countryside and residents. "The proposals will lead to more transparent regulating authorities, empower the public, guarantee public access and secure our health and quality of life. Through this programme, the NGOs demand that the common good be respected instead of it continuing to be trampled upon by powerful private interests." The NGOs that took part in the protest include Birdlife Malta, Din l-Art Ħelwa, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, Friends of the Earth Malta, Gaia Foundation, Greenhouse Malta, Malta Organic Agriculture Movement, Moviment Graffitti, NatureTrust Malta, Ramblers Malta, Y4TE, and Why Not?