Say 'no' to more industrial sites

Do you fancy a small industrial estate just outside your town? Do you think that land zoned by law to remain open space should be rezoned as an industrial area?

The authorities are proposing such 'developments'. They are also asking the public to express an opinion about these proposals. If you, like me, oppose such industrial development then it is important that you speak out and voice your appeal on behalf of Malta's dwindling open spaces.

The government is proposing that 17 sites spread throughout Malta be turned into industrial sites for small businesses in the vehicle repair, warehousing and manufacturing sectors.

Moreover, Government is proposing to set up these industrial sites on land which falls outside Malta's development zone. According to the Structure Plan, the earmarked land is not for industrial use, but to remain open space - to give breathing space to the public, the environment and agriculture. In fact, Government is also proposing that the Structure Plan be amended so that these open spaces may be rezoned from non-development to industrial use.

Are these new industrial sites needed? I strongly believe that they are not. Do we need to sacrifice an additional chunk of our remaining open spaces to help small enterprises? I believe that we can help small enterprises very effectively without sacrificing land falling outside the development zone.

The Malta Development Corporation currently has 550,000 m2 of vacant land within its industrial estates. An additional 300,000 m2 of vacant land is available within industrial areas outside MDC estates. New businesses should be set up within this existing vacant industrial land.

According to a MEPA report on the subject, small businesses cannot use the existing vacant industrial land for these reasons:

MDC currently allots land on its industrial estates only to large enterprises;

Small businesses deem the cost of land in existing industrial areas to be too expensive;

Panel beaters, cargo handlers and other such business owners prefer to set up shop near their home;

But to overcome these difficulties we don't have to use the currently zoned open spaces. Instead, the following action needs to be taken:

MDC should start allotting land on its estates to small enterprises;

Government could give financial help, including grants and subsidies, to small businesses so that they may afford the cost of land in existing industrial areas;

Small business owners also must accept to make the effort and set up shop a little further away from home.

The authorities have also pointed out that in many of the proposed industrial sites some environmental degradation already exists, either because of illegal industrial activities on these sites or because of nearby polluting industrial activities.

For instance, the proposed site at Ta' Santu Kristu, Ghaxaq, is being justified because it is next to a batching plant which with time has led to the degradation of the immediate agricultural land in its vicinity.

What is being ignored is that the batching plant was set up right in the middle of what the Agriculture Department defines as "land of high agricultural value".

Similarly, the site being proposed on the outskirts of Mgarr is surrounded by garigue and nearby agricultural land. In fact, MEPA's report even acknowledges that to set up this site one has to create road access to it. Any such road would have to be built on the surrounding garigue or agricultural land. An industrial site on part of this garigue would sound the death knell for the whole garigue.

The response to such instances of environmental degradation is not therefore to condemn a site to industrial use. If illegal industrial activities are being undertaken on an open space, or industrial activities are polluting it, MEPA should have the teeth to stop such degradation and ensure the rehabilitation of that area.

Moreover, where a polluting business lies in the middle of an agricultural area, as is the case of the batching plant in the Santu Kristu area, Government should offer a financial reward to the owner if the latter accepts to move to an industrial area.

If, however, Government reacts to the environmental degradation of land outside the development zone by turning such degraded open spaces into an industrial site, it would effectively be encouraging undesirable industrial sprawl. It means that every development located outside the development zone can now be used as a pretext to permit the development of that whole area.

Such action also sends the message to illegal developers that all they need to do is sit tight for a few years and eventually they will get their way.

All of us need to tell Government that we oppose the setting up of industrial sites on land which the Structure Plan sets aside as non-development areas. Do your bit to save Malta's remaining open spaces by sending the following plea to the Minister for Economic Services, Professor Josef Bonnici:

"Please do not set up industrial sites on land which falls outside Malta's development zone as designated by the Structure Plan. Instead give small businesses help, including money, so that they will use the existing vacant industrial estates and areas. Please urge Government to rehabilitate the degraded open spaces."

You may send this appeal to the Minister Bonnici via his private secretary. According to the Ministry for Economic Services' Website, the minister's private secretary may be contacted on tel. 2124-9198 or by e-mail: pierre.cauchi@gov.mt

Sources

MEPA, Micro Enterprises Site Selection Exercise Public Consultation Draft, August 2002.

Public statement by Parliamentary Secretary within the Ministry for Economic Services, Edwin Vassallo, September 27. Ministry for Economic Services Website.