Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/694236
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 19 JUNE 2016 41 This Week The woodlouse, or pillbug (M: ħanżir l-art), is familiar not just because it's common but also because it often turns up in our homes too, especially ground-floor residences. Despite their names, woodlice are neither bugs nor lice (nor pigs, for that matter!). They are crustaceans, land-based relatives of shrimps and crabs. But though they live on land, woodlice keep to humid places, as their breathing mechanism will only work in moist conditions. This is why we often find them in dark, damp areas, especially in nice earthy spots like underneath logs and flowerpots (and carpets!). Woodlice cause no damage to people or property. They are actually beneficial as they feed on rotting vegetation, speeding up the return of nutrients to the soil. Their fascinating (and endearing, ask any child) habit of rolling up into a ball (hence the resemblance to a pill) and presenting its hard armour is a sensible defence trick against attackers. Not all woodlice species do this, however, some prefer to scamper off and hide. GREEN IDEA OF THE WEEK 414: RECYCLE ALUMINIUM: Twenty recycled aluminium cans can be made with the energy it takes to manufacture one brand new one. Visit Friends of the Earth's website for more information about our work, as well as for information about how to join us. You can also support us by sending us a donation - www.foemalta.org/donate Text Victor Falzon Photo Desirée Falzon 511. WOODLOUSE Europe recently took an extraordinary vote, refusing to grant Monsanto a license for its main product and cornerstone of its empire – the cancer- linked weed killer glyphosate. Monsanto thought renewal of glyphosate was a done deal. But now, after massive public pressure the future of the Monsanto model is more in question than ever before. The European Commission had proposed a 12 to 18 month extension for glyphosate, so as to allow time for further scientific studies on its feared carcinogenic risks. While 20 member states backed the proposal, seven – Germany, Italy, France, Greece, Portugal, Austria and Luxembourg – abstained, meaning that the necessary qualified majority wasn't reached. Malta was the only EU country to vote against it. The European Commission will now be presenting a proposal on the conditions of use for glyphosate for a possible vote by the EU Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed later on this month, before its current authorisation expires on July 1. The European Commission needs to grab this opportunity to make European farming safer and greener, which is what the public wants. Allowing our fields, streets and parks to be drenched with this risky weedkiller would be reckless and unnecessary. With clearly not enough political support to continue its use, the time has come to ban glyphosate and get farmers off the chemical treadmill. Glyphosate ban could green European farming Your cost contribution to high-rise developments CURRENTLY 13 or more proposals are in the pipeline for high-rise developments, scattered randomly from St George's Bay to the Tigne Peninsula. On the one hand a flurry of excitement from the developers and investors and on the other hand panic on the part of residents, local coun- cils and NGOs. Such panic is justified because of the effects such developments will have on Malta as a whole. Whether mega-developments accom- modate commercial or residential uses makes little difference to the inhabit- ants and their daily lives. Consider the thousands of bathrooms and toilets dis- charging into the current sewage systems which are not ready to cope with such an increase. Even more dramatic is the impact on the national electricity grid. Such buildings are not simply ventilated by opening a window or two, but would need powerful air-conditioning systems to make the spaces inside comfortable. That is a lot of electricity needed for just one such development, let alone the thir- teen or more high- rise blocks envisaged. As we know already our electricity grid is unable to handle the present situation, as power outages in past summers have shown. The obvious solution might be to upgrade both the sewage system and the electricity grid but neither the developers nor their investors expect to pay for this (as has been shown by the Leadenhall Building in London example) so the cost would have to be met by us the taxpayers. Access to such high-rise developments will lead to a sizeable increase in cars and delivery trucks, and a realis- tic assessment suggests that the Town Square development would lead to an additional 6,000 vehicles appearing on Sliema streets. Such an increase could not be maintained (or supported) in our present system of roads; should the solu- tion to that be to widen our roads such a cost would, again, fall on the taxpayer. High-rise developments will bring ad- ditional distress to already suffering local communities and since property prices are likely to become inflated, the Minis- ter of Finance himself has warned there is the predictable prospect of this artificial real estate bubble bursting. While the call for a masterplan is justi- fied it is simply illogical for the developers and investors and the government to pro- ceed with such a gamble when the huge costs will fall on taxpayers who stand to gain nothing but a further increase in their living costs and a damaging ef- fect on the quality of their lives and their health. The aim, it seems, is to increase the profits of a select few with the hidden costs imposed on you and me, whereas it should have, as its first aim, a healthy and sustainable pattern of growth. Jorg Sicot is a Committee Member of Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar Jorg Sicot