Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/797847
14 There can be no doubt that the event of the week was the sudden disappearance of one of Malta's most iconic landmarks: the Azure Window in Dwejra, Gozo. In a classic 'chronicle of a disas- ter foretold', it was something we all knew would happen sooner or later. Yet when it did, the ensuing shock and sense of national loss was nonetheless almost palpable. Some even read a 'message from Mother Nature' in the event... as though we had been warned that we tamper with the forces of na- ture at our own risk. On another level, however, it was also just a case of a rock formation that eventually fell through the en- tirely natural process of erosion. This might explain why an en- vironmentalist like Alan Deidun would take to Facebook to put a sense of perspective on things. It's all well and good to mourn the loss of the Azure Window, he seemed to be arguing... however, the real threat does not concern random natural cataclysms... but the consistent damage being per- petrated on a daily basis. That, at any rate, was my under- standing of his comment... but I could be wrong, because the ex- ample he actually gave had more to do with frogs being boiled alive. "It's a well-known metaphor," he begins when I ask him what on earth all that was about. "If you put a frog into boiling water, it will jump out immediately. It will be aware that there is a danger. But if you put a frog into lukewarm water, and slowly raise the tem- perature... its tolerance level will increase, it will become less aware, and it will stay in the water until it's boiled to death. I made the comparison with Dwejra, because it's the equivalent of the boiling water: something happened, it was a shock to us, and everyone snapped out of their lethargy... suddenly realising that we are los- ing our natural heritage. But when it comes to what's been happening all along in the background – the 'death by a thousand blows' of the environment, including endless permits, sanctioning, extensions, etc – it's as though we're all de- sensitised. It's like the lukewarm water that is being heated by slow degrees..." The pattern, he continues, is not limited to natural disasters like Dwejra. "Let's imagine the govern- ment extends the development boundaries again, as happened in 2005/6. It would be another case of 'shock treatment'... another wake- up call. There would be protests, and so on. But what is actually happening around us, right now, is more insidious and more danger- ous, because it's happening in the background without anyone notic- ing." There is also a slight paradox in reactions to Dwejra, because ulti- mately the collapse of the Azure Window was itself a natural phe- nomenon... more than 'environ- ment damage', it was actually a case of nature being left to take its course without any intervention. Doesn't that make its loss part of the same broader 'environment' we are all committed to respect and preserve? "It is part of nature, yes... which also means that it is beyond our control. We should be nudged into action over issues which are under our control. People took it so badly because the Azure Window is part of our collective memory: some- thing that is part of our patrimony; that has been photographed and displayed all over the Internet. But if you look at its actual environ- mental value – in the sense of how many species were affected, and so on – you could say the impact is very small. "There's another metaphor I like to use: the Window was a word in the middle of a sentence. It came from something, and will give rise to something else. We have other natural arches; others are in the process of being formed – not by man, but by geo-morphological processes. So why all the outcry? The real tragedy at Dwejra is not that. I am shocked and saddened by other disasters that happen in Dwejra every week. "For instance, fishing that is tak- ing place in the middle of a ma- rine protected area, using [ille- gal] trammel nets. Ask any of the thousands of divers who come to Malta every year: the internet is awash with photos they have taken of trammel nets in a marine pro- tected area. Is this how you pro- tect the marine environment, they ask? But that is out of sight and out of mind – literally under the sea – and when something above the waterline collapses, we all start crying. Perhaps I'm a little cynical, but that is the situation..." It is a situation that has persisted for as long as I can remember. It is not just marine protected areas that are 'protected' only on paper. Deidun is very vocal on the issue of ODZ development: technically, the acronym implies that no de- velopment can take place 'outside the development zones'. Yet over the years we have seen the actual green areas shrink at an alarming rate, and the PA continues to issue literally hundreds of ODZ permits each year. Could it be that, for all our in- creased awareness over the years – and all the public political com- mitments to 'make the environ- ment a priority' – we have not actually improved the standards of environmental protection accord- ingly? "When it comes to the sea, the situation hasn't changed. Ask any diving school on the island, and they'll all say that all they really want is at least one, single 'marine protected area' that actually works. But on land it's a slightly different story. We have tightened regula- tions on land; you can't say we're in the same situation as we were before the Planning Authority. But at the same time, the brazenness of it all has increased. We have improved the system, but we have also increased the number of crea- tive ways to go around it." Speaking of which, we got an in- teresting insight into a few of those creative ways this week: with reve- lations of the extent of undeclared party financing by (among others) leading developers. Does Alan Deidun agree that this situation contributes directly to the under- mining of environmental protec- tion in Malta... and if so, what can realistically be done to address the problem? "I'm glad you said 'address the problem', not solve it. I'm afraid I've become very pessimistic. A problem of this magnitude can only be 'addressed' at this stage. First of all, the discussion on party financing did not begin today, but at least 30 years ago. At the end of the 1980s, Alternattiva Demokra- tika – to give them due credit – had already started the debate. It is nothing new. In my opinion, there are two methods to address it: one, full-time politicians. We need full-time politicians. Mario de Marco said as much recently: one way he defended himself when confronted [over legal services to db Group] was to say 'I am a part- time politician'..." Malta, he hints, is also one of the few places where you will not find MPs in Parliament during ordinary work hours. "When you watch Striscia La Notizia, and they go to Montecitorio to heckle politicians... they go there in the morning. That's when you'll find politicians at work in Italy. In Mal- ta, when will you find MPs work- ing in the morning? When there is a marathon sitting about some- thing controversial, like the power station. "And all they do is deliver their speech and leave. So I agree with full-time politicians, and with raising their salaries. I don't see why there should be such a fuss whenever a government tries to increase MPs' stipends (call them what you will). At present, an MP's pay is not adequate. Recently there was a story about how a CEO in a government department was earn- ing twice or three times the salary of her own minister. That is not on. In the proper hierarchy the minister should have the highest pay. But then, they need to shed their private interests, and do it in a comprehensive manner. No tokenism: no leaving your junior partners to work in the firm. You would have to detach yourself completely. This way, the terms and conditions would be clear: anyone going into politics would know what they are getting into..." The second method concerns public financing of political par- ties. "Political parties should not be financed by the private sector. Their funding should come from the public domain. Perhaps not everyone will agree with me, but I think parties should be funded directly by the taxpayer. It might take us 10 years to hit on the right formula: what percentage goes to which party, whether it's on the basis of parliamentary representa- tion, which would be discriminat- Interview By Raphael Vassallo maltatoday, SUNDAY, 12 MARCH 2017 The ERA objected to a large number of these permits; and its advice was overturned in 70% of cases. This alone should give an idea of the situation: the ERA represents the environmental conscience, as it were, of the planning regime CONSCIENCE I am shocked and saddened by other disasters that happen in Dwejra every week. For instance, fishing that is taking place in the middle of a marine protected area, using [illegal] trammel nets TRAGEDY 'Death by a thousand