I urge all readers to carefully study the recently published Qawra/Dwejra Heritage Park Action Plan (available on www.mepa.org.mt). It could have a profound effect on anyone concerned with tourism. At first glance, the report appears very comprehensive and far-reaching but there are a number of proposals which if implemented will have a dramatic effect on diving tourism and, consequently, tourism in general.

For years, very little has been done to attract divers to Gozo. Access to many of its dive sites remains appalling, nothing has been done to improve parking facilities at dive sites and spiralling dive centre costs have increased the cost of diving.

Now, the plan is to fleece the diver even more by charging him or her for parking and every dive he/she makes at Dwejra. The planned car park will be even further away from the water entry and exit points, forcing the poor old diver to walk further with his heavy load in the height of the Gozitan summer. There are also hints that charges may be levied for parking at other popular dive sites such as Óondoq, Xwieni Bay and Mgarr ix-Xini once the precedent has been set at Dwejra.

Furthermore, there is a suggestion that there could be a charge for filming in the area - even by an individual. So the diver will be hit by a triple whammy - a charge to park a vehicle, a charge for the dive and a charge because he has a video camera. Finally, to add insult to injury, the report accuses divers of "plundering the seabed".

All this in the current climate of declining tourist numbers coming to Malta and Gozo - this must be a joke! Divers should be encouraged not discouraged. Malta rests on a knife-edge. The Red Sea has much more to offer the diver for very little extra money. Air fares are more reasonable, the marine life is infinitely more attractive, the diving is easier, the water is warmer, the hotels offer more facilities and there are better beaches for the non-divers. The main reason European divers visit Malta and Gozo is simply because it is nearer but today there is strong competition from such places as Sardinia, Sicily, Cyprus and the Canary Islands.

As an experienced diver and someone who regularly dives the Dwejra area and has done so for the last 15 years, it is painfully obvious that the committee responsible for the plan have not consulted with any professional Dwejra divers. The accusation that divers plunder the seabed is very derogatory, is untrue and only serves to detract from the excellence of the report. The proposals for regulating diving are very weak in comparison with other proposals and in one case, completely unworkable. The successful recovery of a victim from a common type of diving accident depends upon the immediate administration of 100 per cent oxygen. Consequently, for safety reasons, dive centre vehicles carrying this oxygen need to be as close as possible to entry and exit points. Any experienced Dwejra diver would have been able to advise the committee on these points.

After tourism, diving is the second most popular reason for visiting Dwejra but you don't get that impression when you study the plan. I have only seen climbers/abseilers at Dwejra on rare occasions yet more than a page is devoted to proposals for this activity. In contrast, the proposals for diving are covered in a single paragraph.

Divers are very adept at voting with their feet. As quoted in the report, the Blue Hole at Dwejra has been voted one of the top 10 dive sites in Europe but will quickly fall from favour if the cost of diving increases yet again. One of the other dive sites in that top 10 list is the wreck of the Zenobia in Cyprus but the Cypriots are not stupid enough to charge extra to dive it.