Ghajn Tuffieha farmers should be protected - AD

Alternattiva Demokratika has called on the government to protect a number of farmers who have been asked to evacuate land at Ghajn Tuffieha which they have been tilling for the past 30 years.

The party said the government should abide by the recommendation of the Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Dr Francis Agius, who declared: "If our opinion is sought by other ministries, whenever land is tilled, our wish is always that the land continues to be tilled".

AD's spokesman on environment and rural affairs, Mark Causon, observed that ironically the news that the farmers in Ghajn Tuffieha came a day after the National Commission on Sustainable Development consultation on agriculture was held.

"The commission meeting noted that while land is often given to developers on a 99-year lease the farmer is forced to renew his lease yearly. Fine words must be translated into action. Sustainable agriculture must be given its due space on the limited land area which is increasingly being turned over to building and recreational development.

"Traditional livelihoods, cultural landscapes and local produce are all endangered if the trend to deal with farmers so harshly is allowed a foothold. The area in question was the subject of an entrepreneurial plan to develop agri-tourism with renewable energy projects and respect for biodiversity but all this has gone up in smoke.

"The land is being snapped up by the big hotel developers all vying to out do each other to the detriment of the landscape and rural development. This does not contribute to attract the different niches of tourists, especially those visiting Malta in the low season, which our country needs," Mr Causon concluded.