Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/717204
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 21 AUGUST 2016 26 Letters The proposed hotel development on the ecologically sensitive Ta' Cenc area in Gozo has been given a first blessing with the approval of the new Gozo local plan, which has earmarked the area for the de- velopment of a 'multi-ownership tourism' hotel and a national park. Controversially removed from the government's sites for Natura 2000, the EU's "safety net" for nature, the future of Ta' Cenc now rests on how the Malta Environment and Planning Authority will interpret the Structure Plan, Malta's legally-binding planning policy. That's because the approved local plan for Gozo has gone beyond the Structure Plan by identifying a new site for the development of Gozo entrepreneur Victor Borg's new hotel, and 59 villas and 49 bungalows. The approved plan now earmarks two areas for tourist development – the east- ern flank of the Ta' Cenc promontory, and the upgrading of the existing hotel which will be "encouraged" provided it is at a minimum distance of just 50m from the coastal cliffs. According to the Structure Plan's "policy TOU 10", which the Gozo plan states will be the policy upon which any development takes place, development in Ta' Cenc has to be limited to the vicinity of the present hotel. In contrast to the Structure Plan's policy however, Borg's planning application also envisages substantial development down by Mgarr ix-Xini on the opposite end of Ta' Cenc, a new hotel to the west near San- nat, and villas at Mgarr ix-Xini to the east. All developments are over 2km apart from each other, indicating the sprawl of the development. Fittingly for Borg, TOU 10 also states that both the park and hotel have to be developed by a "single management" company. While Borg's proposed project envisages buildings over two storeys high, the Struc- ture Plan clearly states that the height of buildings should be restricted to one and two storeys. The approved Gozo plan states that "overall height" must not increase in the area closest to the northern escarpment or the coastal cliffs. The Gozo plan states that MEPA will have to ensure the safeguarding of ar- chaeological, ecological and scenic herit- age found at the top of the plateau m any development, in considering any planning applications. The plan also states that development has to be restricted within 50 metres of the inland-most tier of the coastal cliffs, and prohibited from negatively affecting the breeding grounds of seabirds below the Ta' Cenc cliffs. In fact th e whole area, from Ta' Cenc to Mgarr ix-Xini and Wied Sabbar, is listed as one of the important bird areas of Eu- rope in the Heath and Evans compilation – the basic work for any decision taken by the EU with respect to the Habitat and Birds directives. Experts have warned that light pollu- tion could disturb the Cory's Shearwater colonies on the Ta' Cenc cliffs, the impact of which could be potentially irreversible if the seabirds abandon their nesting sites. The environmental impact statement (EIS) for Borg's development has laid down detailed mitigation measures to ensure lighting in the area does not disturb the bird colonies. But despite its ecological importance, the site was removed from a list of poten- tial candidates put forward by the Nature Trust the Natura 2000 network. Gozo plan earmarks Ta' Cenc for mega development Send your letters to: The Editor, MaltaToday, MediaToday Ltd. Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 | Fax: (356) 21 385075 E-mail: newsroom@mediatoday.com.mt. Letters to the Editor should be concise. No pen names are accepted. 20 August, 2006 Morning-after pill: truths not told The introduction of the morn- ing-after pill (MAP) is being presented to the public as a pill similar to those contraceptive pills already on the market, and anti-campaigners are being told that they are creating 'a storm in a teacup'. But in my opinion, this is only simplifying and misrepresenting the real issues in question. MAP is being made to sound innocuous and promoted as the solution that will liberate women's sexuality. However, surely this is a seriously f lawed argument: the right to freedom is not absolute and falls second if it hurts or abuses someone else. If this were not so, terrorism and murder would be legal. I am more convinced into thinking that this 'being liberal' is becom- ing trendy and compelling us to behave like narcissistic teenag- ers, where appearing the coolest is what matters. Why, I wonder, are we so quick to defend animal rights but easily falter in front of life at concep- tion. Isn't this a grave example of two weights and two meas- ures? Or is it perhaps just simply a question of living in an age where defending animal rights has become more trendy than defending the embryo which by comparison is seen as passé and conservative? Being invis- ible does not make it disposable. Shouldn't we have arrived at an advanced conscious development of civilization where values are not traded for mere superficiali- ties? Another argument that is being used by the pro-MAP campaign- ers is that MAP is being intro- duced everywhere so why not in Malta? But how can this be a justification? How can this rea- soning be seen superior to that of a teenager succumbing to peer pressure and talking himself into it… 'everyone is doing it, so why shouldn't I?' I would like to think that the mature wise adult knows better. So rather than promoting further education and responsible adult sexual behaviour among both men and women, parliament is right now contemplating offering quick fix solutions without a care for what is at stake, promoting reckless, irresponsible attitudes and behaviours instead of adult responsible thinking and deci- sion making. Also, while definitions of the human embryo make it quite clear that "the development of a human begins with fertilization, a process by which the sperma- tozoon from the male and the oocyte from the female unite to give rise to a new organism, the zygote" (Sadler, 1995) the public is being made to believe by MAP campaigners that MAP prevents pregnancy and that life at con- ception is less valuable or 'less human' than other forms. Firstly it is important for the public to know that in some countries it is marketed in this way, because pregnancy in these countries is defined as starting with implantation, conveniently ignoring scientific fact that in a zygote contains all that is needed for human life to develop. Sec- ondly, yes, MAP acts in a number of ways, many of which are not abortifacient, i.e. acting before fertilization, for example by sup- pressing ovulation. But, somehow what seems to be ignored is also the scientific fact that MAP acts also by prevent- ing implantation of a fertilized egg. As a research quoted by the Malta Chamber of Pharmacists states,"studies have shown that it is not scientifically possible to exclude that the MAP does not preclude implantation of a ferti- lised ovum in the endometrium" (Trussell et. Al. 2016). So why is science being ignored and a wrong deceptive idea being given to the public and for what reason? Also, I continue to ask why is MAP being presented as the solution for the women who fall victim to unplanned pregnancies, but very few are speaking about more life-giving and just options for everyone at stake: such as adoption. So many couples who face infertility issues would love to adopt and find it so hard to find children in need of adoption. Yes a similar abortifacient contraceptive already exists in the market: the coil. But mature adults know that two wrongs do not make a right and what is legal is not always right. Perhaps the discussion of the MAP should raise similar issues with the coil and the law making it legal should be brought into dispute. Laws that are not constitutional change every day and are made more correct and updated. Louisa Houlton Zebbug Six months on since the Panama data dump, the long knives in Malta are still out, and endlessly sharpened, in an unrelenting quest to claim as trophies the scalps of Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri. It just goes to show how lucky this whole planet is that these islands have been given the dimensions of an outcrop the size of a pinhead. Had we occupied an area similar to that of Sicily, with our present population size, we would have reduced the White House and the Kremlin to two gigantic bundles of nerves, each outdoing the other not to fall foul of the mood that happens to be taking us at the time. So the planet can thank the hand of whoever moulded it to what it is now and Malta can thank its lucky stars that it has an enlightened electorate, and that at its moment of truth made its wisest choice in years in giving us a political leadership steeped in the most commendable principles that has driven us to levels never experi- enced before. The Imriehel and the Towns- quare projects are but puny aspir- ants to such lofty principles. Not to betray these principles, the frontline, no-nonsense de- fender against those scalps becom- ing political trophies, has laid his fortunes on the line taking a storm of flak yet standing his ground with aplomb. And one can see why, even if one doesn't want to, if one reads on. Among those 11.5 million docu- ments that caused the planet to wobble, we are told that the Rus- sian leader has some US$2 billion dollars stashed away for a Siberian polar day out of reach of his coun- try's taxman. And hardly a Russian voice of dissent (out of some 140 million natives) has been raised. Compare this with our Island's 0.4 million, where a vociferous campaign intent on political lynching and the invasion of pri- vacy of two of the island's leading lights has for so long ebbed and flowed (mostly ebbed) in intensity all because Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri were planning to put away for safe-keeping a meagre $1 million a year, all the fruit of hard labour well and truly justly earned. Do you know what that means? That means that Konrad and Keith each need 2,000 years to reach what Putin has siphoned off out of his country. So why all this fuss? If it's no skin off the nose for all those Russians, why should it be such a big deal with such venom for Konrad's and Keith's loose change? What gives you nihilists the right to hold these family men from humble yet proud working- class backgrounds to higher standards than the Russian people hold their leader, a leader who has almost never been a stranger to all the creature comforts? What gives you Maltese nihilists the right to hold your government to standards higher than those the Russians hold theirs? Two weights, two measures, like never before. Joe Genevose Birkirkara After Panama – two weights, two measures The hunters' saint St Julian's is always inventing some noisy "anniversary" to celebrate, either of its band club or its patron saint. This summer, the anniversary relates to the establishment of the parish. It includes monotonous processions through the streets with the kitschy statue of St Julian, the legendary patron saint of hunters. The statue depicts St Julian as an androgynous male with long, wav y auburn hair, dressed in a gaudily embroi- dered 'Roman soldier's' tunic and with gold boots to match – the ultimate "macho" saint! John Guillaumier St Julian's