Dingli Cliffs vandalism

Allow me to reply to certain points raised (November 8) by Alfred Zammit on the state of Dingli Cliffs.

Unbelievable but true, half of what is known as Dingli Cliffs is within the boundary of Siggiewi local council. The present boundaries were established when the local councils were set up 10 years ago. Besides half of Dingli Cliffs, the areas of Gebel Ciantar, Ghar il-Kbir, Clapham Junction cart ruts, Ta' Zuta and Barumbara surroundings, for centuries widely acknowledged as Dingli territory (confirmed even by the Dingli parish records), were unilaterally transferred to Siggiewi.

So the correspondent should address his complaint about rusty car bodies and other waste material thrown over the cliffs at Gebel Ciantar to the Siggiewi council.

It is hereby confirmed that the Dingli council issued a tender to remove dumped cars and other waste material from the cliffs. Although we are not faultless, we regularly clean up part of the cliffs under our responsibility and even plant trees at the side of the panoramic road during the winter months.

Unfortunately, vandalism is rife and most of the trees are stolen or even sawn off at the lowest part of the bark. But we will not be discouraged - we will continue to substitute the stolen or damaged trees. It is sad to state that even notices warning passers-by to refrain from stone-throwing down the cliffs were removed.

The correspondent should also know that for some time we have been asking for permission from the Malta Environment and Planning Authority to allow us to make safe the most dangerous point alongside the cliff road which we know to be the "suicide spot". Unfortunately, this permit has not been forthcoming from Mepa. It is earnestly hoped that this permit be issued at the earliest possible moment.