Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/530451
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 21 JUNE 2015 15 and when all the amendments had been done for the merger to take place, the environment directorate would have moved away from the ministry. But no, it was done the other way round, to accommodate development, and stifle environ- mental matters." It is this general policy direction, Baldacchino adds, that has led to this [yesterday's] demonstration. "This will be attended by genu- ine socialists, genuine Labourites, genuine Nationalists, genuine AD supporters… the genuine man in the street who puts the interest of the country before the interest of any political entity." At the time of our interview, the protest is still some days ahead. But already there are indications that the issue itself has (somewhat predictably) taken on a decidedly partisan hue. It remains to be seen whether the turnout will match Baldacchino's expectations… but there is also something of a coun- ter-protest going on, with at least one petition being circulated in fa- vour of the project in the South of Malta. Isn't there a danger, then, that this issue will slip out of the grasp of all those 'genuine campaigners', and become just another pull on the ropes in a political tug-of-war? "One has to keep one's feet on the ground, and accept the fact that a percentage of the electorate on each side of the political giants – I would say around 35-40% – are the type who would be shown a circle, and told it is a square… and they ap- plaud the speaker for telling them that. It's a 'square circle' mentality. And the fact that there is a petition going around applies to this men- tality. The same thing happened in the Spring hunting referendum. For me, this is just a declaration of political failure by a government that says it listens, but then doesn't hear. If there is a genuine interest in good governance, the electorate has to be part of the decision. Oth- erwise, one can only conclude the decision has been forced onto the electorate…" And yet his own example sounds ominous. The Spring hunting ref- erendum went on to be won by the hunters, in no small part thanks to the involvement of party politics… "Yes, but the political intelligent- sia of this island, whatever colour flag they wave, will get the message from that referendum. If they really are intelligent, that is. It was a very strong message. Despite the po- litical intervention to achieve a 'yes' result, the intelligent electorate did not heed both parties' stand on the issue. 49% voted against party lines. So for the politicians, the result is worse than it would have been had people been left to vote without political influence. I would assume the politicians will realise that the floating voters – the ones who real- ise that a circle is round – can think and act for themselves." At the same time, those defending the project (politically-motivated or not) also argue that the 'South' of the country has traditionally been neglected and abused over the years; and that projects such as this represent a turn-around in the area's economic fortunes. The project itself is being touted as an example of 'sustainable develop- ment'. Does he agree with the 'sustainable' part… and, short of this type of large-scale investment project: what would an environ- mentalist propose for the economic regeneration of the South? "Thank you for bringing up the word 'sustainable development'. That's a buzz-word today. Before 'the environment' was a buzz-word. Now it's 'sustainability'… which is used by some politicians in a way that doesn't make any sense, and only shows that they don't under- stand the meaning of the word. 'Sustainable' means that the activity undertaken 'will not be detrimental to future generations, in their use of the same resources in the same way as they are being used today'. But no politician would intend to define what he means by 'sustain- able'…" All the same, by opposing indi- vidual projects such as the proposed Zonqor development, the environ- mentalist movement in general of- ten opens itself to the charge that it doesn't see sustainability in any form of development whatsoever. Is there such a thing as development which is 'sustainable', according to Baldacchino's definition? "I am not against commercial ac- tivity in any area, even in the area under discussion. But one has to take into consideration whether the commercial returns in the short term will outweigh the negative so- cial and environmental impacts in the long run. The hidden costs, the externalities of the whole project… these will have to be borne by fu- ture generations. For example, I was quite surprised to hear the MEPA representative at last Monday's meeting declare that this project will generate jobs for the people of that area… as, for example, cleaners." He gasps in mock surprise. "When you think that in the past, the Labour Party had tried to elimi- nate dependency on foreigners, be- cause we had become a country of 'cleaners' for foreign interests… are we going to revert back to offering jobs as cleaners to foreign projects? It was quite surprising to me. This project was supposed to kick-start economic activity in the south. How? By providing cleaning jobs to people in the area?" At the same time, however, we must also concede that cleaners do exist: and some of them might actually appreciate the chance of extra work… "OK, fine. But how are we going to raise the living standard? Again, this is part of the commercial argu- ment, and why you can't exclude the social aspect from it. What is the government doing to raise the cultural standard and improve quality of life in the area? It's offer- ing menial jobs that, today, most people don't want to do… And who said there's no other type of com- mercial activity that can take place in an area which has so much his- torical and ecological value? You could have genuinely sustainable, eco-friendly activity, generating jobs without ruining the area… educational activities, for example. One natural asset we have, and which is being completely ignored, is the geographical position of the island which can attract tourists on the basis of the historical at- tractions we have. But this is not accepted, because it doesn't give as immediate, high returns as devel- opment…" He argues that this, too, forms part of the reason for yesterday's protest. "People are disappointed with the way their environment is being ignored, for a blinded pro- business vision. It's good to have a pro-business vision, don't get me wrong. But not a blinded one. Not at the expense of society and the environment…" Interview Environment policy has been sacrificed in the name of short-sighted greed. ALFRED E. BALDACCHINO, a former assistant director at the Environment Protection Directorate, outlines how this was achieved pro-business vision PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD