Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/455578
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 1 FEBRUARY 2015 Opinion 19 Hands off, Joseph, this is a people's referendum Saviour Balzan T here is little doubt in my mind that if Labour leader Joseph Muscat wants to kneecap and wipe out the environment movement for good he can do this by continuing to pay lip service to their cause, undermining them and boosting Lino Farrugia and his hunting lobby. I have the feeling that Muscat does not quite understand how important this referendum is for the country. He surely underestimates the importance of the environment, a condition which I feel he should change if he really wants to transform this country in a holistic way. It is not only about money, it is far more than that – this country also has soul, and the soul of this country is not found in the likes of Tigne Point or Fort Cambridge or Smart City. Muscat must surely feel that he is invincible and to a certain extent he may be, but he had better be wary. A whispering campaign about how people should vote in the April referendum could undermine how certain Labourites would like to vote. There are many Labourites who want to vote NO. They want to stop hunting in spring, they are Labourites who want to change the status quo. I thought Muscat was all about change. Or is he about status quo? Labourites are no different to their countrymen, they want to have the same rights as all those who feel that the countryside belongs to all of us and not to a bunch of egotists who think that just because they have a gun they can do what they want. Muscat knows that the environment should in fact be a serious priority for the Partit Laburista but he does not exactly know how he should go about it. If the April referendum is lost, it will serve as a green card for the wanton killing and massacre of more wild birds by these maniacs who believe that they have a God-given right to blast the skies and rule the Maltese countryside. When in fact all they have is a gun which they want to use without hindrance. Just as important, and horrifying, it will award a permanent visa to the gangs of contractors and speculators who will see that the environment lobby has been dealt a mortal blow. They will have no qualms in going on to change Malta and Gozo into their wilderness of concrete and ugliness. To them there is only one religion, which is money and more money – what happens next is irrelevant. In his end of the year speech, Muscat said he wanted to reach out to the environment lobby. His comment will turn out to be a rather trite and hollow comment if he decides to tell Labourites what to do. It was as one good friend said, a quip best interpreted as tokenism. Muscat is right when he talks of the need to create wealth as a basis for his social welfare dream programme, but he cannot sacrifice the environment to achieve this goal. He has taken on every unbelievable cause and ignored the consequences. Gay rights and divorce are two good examples. But when it comes to hunters he has taken a softer approach. It is not that he likes hunters, it is probably more the case that he mistrusts the environmentalists. Perhaps he needs to appreciate that some of his constituency, a growing one, is becoming more environmentally conscious. There must be those who are getting to the stage where they will start saying 'enough is enough'. Muscat also needs to start to realise, and believe, that the environment is a concern for his constituency, the same constituency that elevated him to stardom. There is another thing, if the hunters win over the environment lobby they will have acquired supremacy to the extent that they will feel free to shoot at will. Try to rein them in, then. Even with the police at their heels, they have been guilty of gruesome excesses. Who will be able to control that, if they win a referendum that bans not their hunting passion, but their passion to kill wildlife at its most vulnerable. Needless to say, when I talk of Joseph Muscat I am not even making reference to social democracy and the fact that the environment and ecology should be an important component in their political manifesto. I have never hidden the fact that I am more of a social democrat than a conservative. But is Joseph Muscat being a social democrat when he leans towards the hunting lobby? I pray that he will not take sides in the weeks ahead. The countryside is the one and only place which can be visited and is free of charge for all the public. Everyone should be entitled to go out in spring and walk the countryside without fear of being showered with pellets or stopped by unruly thugs, or made to fear for their life. This is not about birds, this is primarily about our right to roam the Maltese and Gozitan countryside during its most beautiful time of the year, when plant life is rousing itself from the winter cold, and vulnerable wildlife is making its way to its breeding grounds. This is the year when we should be proud that we have progressed so far in every field. We are modern, progressive and European when we come to our standards and when it comes to rules and regulations. But when it comes to hunting, then we are a third world country, with its wild instincts at their worst. It is time to say NO to Lino Farrugia and his organisation's demands for a licence to kill birds in spring. And to say yes to the right to wander the countryside without the fear of being threatened or shot at. This a great opportuntity for Malta. The European Commission is unwilling to rock the boat, and with former Labour minister Karmenu Vella as Environment Commissioner the chances that they will act against Malta are unlikely. Keep in mind that after Malta's decision to ignore the decision of the European Court of Justice the EU started an infringement procedure against Malta. When asked this week to comment, Vella could only mumble an unfinished riposte. Vella, never a champion of the environment, was just the right man for the job at the right time. So now, it is in the hands of the Maltese and Gozitans to decide, and show what they want, and it is about time we start the debate with the Lino Farrugias of this world. Come on Lino, come forward and tell us what your arguments are for keeping the status quo. Speak up, we want to hear your silly, insipid arguments, the ones that make everyone cringe! – for their absurdity and wanton cruelty. Come on. If politicians are scared of you, we are NOT! @saviourbalzan If this referendum is lost it will lead to the supremacy of the likes of Lino Farrugia and the obliteration of the Maltese environment movement, Saviour Balzan opines If the referendum is lost, the gangs of contractors and speculators will have no qualms in going on to change Malta and Gozo into their wilderness of concrete and ugliness