The crisis in the countryside

These days everybody preaches sustainable development. But are we really practising what we preach? Not if one judges by what is happening in our countryside. Wied Garnaw is a case in point.

Wied Garnaw is one of the few remaining stretches of open countryside in the highly industrialised, densely populated south central region of Malta. It is a "green lung" for the residents of Sta Lucija, Luqa, Tarxien, Gudja and Ghaxaq.

It is zoned by the Malta Structure Plan as a green area, and it is designated as a "valley protection zone of agricultural and ecological value" in the Malta Environment and Planning Authority's (MEPA) draft South Local Plan.

Notwithstanding this, various industrial and commercial developments have taken place within the valley. Several of these, including a large new printing establishment, some adjacent workshops and a soft drinks warehouse, have been approved or sanctioned by MEPA even though they are outside development boundaries.

Local residents are now faced with an application for the construction of an inorganic waste separation plant in the heart of the valley. This remains under consideration by MEPA.

How can such industrial developments in green areas be contemplated, let alone approved, when according to data published by MEPA itself, almost a quarter of the space in industrial zones is vacant? All too often, the prevailing attitude in official as well as commercial circles seems to be that the open countryside is an idle resource awaiting exploitation.

6,000 illegal developments

The site of the proposed waste separation plant has already been developed, entirely illegally, as a skip depot (although it is no longer being used following pressure by residents of the area).

MEPA issued an enforcement notice against the removal of soil from this site as far back as December 2000. The developer ignored the enforcement notice, but MEPA took no further steps, although more than a month ago it promised to take action "imminently". We now have to see what imminent means in MEPA's dictionary.

At least 17 MEPA enforcement notices are outstanding in Wied Garnaw. The oldest dates back to 1993. Some weeks ago The Times reported that, nationwide, there are 6,000 enforcement notices outstanding and awaiting action on MEPA's part.

This is nothing less than a crisis. Six thousand outstanding enforcement notices mean anarchy in the countryside. If MEPA resolved one such case a day through direct action to remove illegal development it would take 20 years to clear the backlog.

Yet during the year ending in September 2003 MEPA carried out only eight direct actions. At this rate no action will be taken against most illegal developers during their lifetime.

The Sunday Times of April 25 reported the Minister for Rural Affairs and the Environment, George Pullicino, as saying that the government had "neither the financial means nor the human resources for policing people who did not respect the environment". This is discouraging. It suggests that, having allowed the problem of illegal development to grow to such proportions through years of inaction, the authorities are now feeling helpless before it.

Perhaps the minister was speaking in a different context. I certainly hope so because the situation cannot be accepted. It is pointless talking about sustainable development if we turn a blind eye to such chaos in the countryside.

Six thousand outstanding enforcement notices make a mockery of environmental policy and a mockery of the rule of law. In recent years a lot of attention has been given to the backlog of cases in court: the 6,000 enforcement notices surely merit at least the same concern.

Time for action

Action has to be taken as a matter of national urgency to bring illegal development, particularly in the countryside, under effective control. The problem is not the law but how it is applied. Or not applied rather.

Illegal developers who ignore MEPA's enforcement notices can be sent to jail, but I do not believe this has ever happened.

In the abstract anyone can agree with the idea of sustainable development. Even illegal developers. But while we are all in happy national agreement, at local level the bulldozers will keep rolling.

Policies are worthless unless they can be brought down to specifics. Minister Pullicino, what are you going to do about those 6,000 enforcement notices? What are you going to do to protect Wied Garnaw? What about Malta's other precious undeveloped valleys?

Don't tell us to wait for the revised Structure Plan. The 1990 version was going to regulate development effectively and protect the countryside - remember that? Developers have ridden a coach and horses through it, where they have not ignored it altogether.

And don't simply blame MEPA. MEPA has allowed the problem to fester, but politicians haven't exactly been queuing up at its doors to complain about illegal development, have they? There are many conscientious people in MEPA who take their work seriously, but to get results they need resources and political support.

Minister Pullicino, we need answers quickly. For our valleys, time is running out fast.

Ms Polidano is chairman of the Save Wied Garnaw Action Group (www.geocities.com/savegarnaw).