The Labour Party's general conference recently approved its document on the environment, Ambjent b'sahhtu ghal sahhitna. The document breathes life into our ailing environment.
It engenders enthusiasm in those who rightly believe that there is hope for our country and its environment. It reminds us that Malta's environment also affects its competitivity on the global arena, especially since tourism is so important.
Labour's environment policy has been acclaimed by many as a breakthrough document, although some individuals, like Dr Zammit Dimech, consider it as "a pamphlet written by a child in primary school" ("Let's talk facts", The Sunday Times, October 20).
If this were true, then Dr Zammit Dimech should now explain why over the past five years, the environment initiatives listed in Labour's document which are readily understood even by children, seem to have eluded him and his well-paid consultants!
In his article, Dr Zammit Dimech shows an unusual craving for facts. These are the dismal facts which have prompted Labour to devise a well-planned environment policy so that our children can have a better future.
Air pollution has reached alarming levels in some towns (incidence of asthma in Fgura, especially among children are world record breakers), saline and more dangerous substances in parts of our groundwater exceed all known acceptable thresholds; our coastal waters are more polluted than ever; the Maghtab landfill spews dioxin, heavy metals and hydrocarbons in the air and water.
These facts are the tip of the iceberg of many other environmental black spots which have accumulated under the PN administration.
Some journalists accuse Labour of scaremongering. If these journalists are not scared of these terrible facts then they have become totally insensitive to the problems facing this country.
These problems have piled up on us like a ton of bricks, and the PN have only now discovered that unlike the Labour Party, it does not have a comprehensive environmental policy to tackle these problems!
Rather than face environmental realities accumulating throughout this decade, the PN government and its agents have alienated people with promises about the EU. Meanwhile, the PN dismantled the Ministry for the Environment!
The only policy that Dr Zammit Dimech had managed to publish was a pamphlet-sized waste management strategy that was drawn up by EU consultants supported by only a few public consultants and only after rubbishing previous plans.
But Dr Zammit Dimech wants facts. The original EU document imposed by Brussels insisted on wide-scale incineration of Malta's waste as a solution to our waste problem.
We know that Malta does not produce enough combustible waste for economically viable incineration. This means that the 'Brussels solution' devised in the strategy plan was possible only if we import waste from the EU's waste network!
In that way the Maltese would not only breathe the foul ashes of their incinerated offal, but also that of their benevolent brethren from the EU!
The PN now promises another rapid 'Brussels solution' for our landfills problems. But first we have to face the fact that Brussels did very little for Greece (except impose fines!), which has been an EU member for the past decades, and presently still has more then 2000 sub-standard landfills, many of which are as bad or worse than our Maghtab!
Malta's environment will improve only when we consider the environment within the realm of our national interest rather then that of Brussels' diktat. The PN's obsession with the EU will continue to deprive us of our right to a healthy environment.
Labour wants the environment to have a high priority on the political agenda of the country. Its environment policy will be a decisive step towards sustainable development in Malta. This can be achieved by the setting up of a Ministry for the Environment which will be responsible for a number of institutions concerned with every aspect of the environment and related problems.
These new institutions will be tailor-made for Malta, because environmental problems are ours, and not the EU's. Labour's environment policy envisages the setting up of a department for the environment to assess the living natural environment and ensure its protection.
A Geological Survey Department will be responsible for the country's non-living natural resources and what we derive from quarries and groundwater, while also assessing ground contamination (a major concern in the landfill issue). A Planning Department will specialise in land use and serve the people by good land management practices rather than serve land speculators.
The Civil Protection Department will work closely with the Ministry for the Environment. This will benefit contingency plans for natural disasters, such as the Etna eruption and the downpour of volcanic ash on Malta which has caught the PN government totally unprepared.
These reformed and new administrative structures will strengthen environmental institutions which have been fatally weakened after the PN organised the politically forced merger of the Environment Protection Department (EPD) with the Planning Authority.
This has left us with even fewer environmental inspectors to enforce regulations (the opposite of what George Pullicino had promised!), and more disgruntled officers at the PA.
Labour's new approach is needed because we know that the present environmental degradation in Malta is effectively a reflection of decadence in our institutions.
The PN has built, over the years, a corruptible administrative superstructure under the guise of 'autonomous' authorities whose real purpose is to serve the few within the PN.
Even the democratically elected Prime Minister disagrees with certain decisions taken by MEPA on Cottonera, but like the rest of us he is helpless to act against this powerful superstructure.
This democratic deficit will have to be addressed by a new Labour government. We have started by embarking on a wide consultation and public participation exercise from which Labour formulated its environment policy document.
It is clear that people want their views heard on environmental decisions. Labour's environment policy also calls for a review of local plans to stop the present insanity which now wants to claim Kalkara Valley as its next victim.
Strangely, some 'environmentalists' seem disgruntled and feel awkward at Labour's strong and serious commitment to solve our environmental problems. This should not come as a surprise because the PN is now like a sinking ship, where rats flee their hiding place and come to the surface.
One environmentalist, Anne Zammit (The Sunday Times, October 27) loses her credibility as an objective commentator and blatantly ends her article by suggesting that readers should not vote Labour!
She seems upset with Dr Alfred Sant's statement that the landfills issue has to be reviewed from scratch. The point Labour is making is that we cannot subscribe to the incompetence and wrong policies pursued by Dr Zammit Dimech on this issue.
Nor can we remain constrained by misconceptions which forbid us to venture into new territories, such as sea reclamation, as other countries like the Netherlands and Monaco have done so well.
Labour's policy will not be held hostage to these 'misconceptions' devised under the guise of environmental protection by certain individuals at MEPA (and friends) in order to constrain forward-looking developments through their web of institutionalised corruption.
The problems we have with our environment need a dynamic approach which only a Labour government can offer. Educating our citizens on environmental matters is fundamental in Labour's environment policy.
When coupled with enforcement, Labour's environment policy will change attitudes and eventually change the face of our country. Our environment policy stems from our belief that we deserve to live in a country where the air, water and ground are clean and where living and non-living resources are managed in the best interest of present and future generations.
Mr Mizzi, MP, is the Opposition's spokesman on environmental policy and planning