Freedom to ramble

I had the pleasure of attending the inaugural meeting of the Malta Ramblers Association last February and was overwhelmed by the numbers that gathered at Din l-Art Helwa headquarters, spilling out of the hall and down the staircase. The enthusiasm and thirst for action were truly impressive. Without the required control, the meeting would have gone on for long hours, what with the sheer force of those who wanted to air their views. All this thanks to the unrelenting efforts and indomitable spirit of Lino Bugeja, together with his team.

Now there is an ad hoc committee and a draft statute which, together with the first committee of the association, will be approved at the first general meeting to be held in October. The ad hoc committee has already held a series of meetings with the highest authorities to put forward the association's case. They deserve our full and whole-hearted support.

But one may say what is this rambling? Rambling simply means walking at ease through the countryside, admiring nature and even historical remains at times. A beautiful and pleasant hobby during fine (and not so fine) days. It means trekking down country lanes and paths, cliff sides and wooded areas. It is one of the most popular hobbies worldwide. There are associations such as Malta's everywhere. Governments and local authorities facilitate the exercise of this hobby by creating and cleaning up pathways, putting up directional and descriptive signage and publishing guide books. They ensure that public areas are accessible to all and not usurped or blocked by some private individual for his own exclusive use. They even go so far as to create pathways across private property for the access of the public.

Oh would this be Malta! Unfortunately, our law of the jungle mentality has reared its ugly head in this area too. Our national bullies have taken over government land as their own, surrounded it with horrible, rusted oil drums, soiled any little remaining rubble wall with the ominous letters RTO and now just sit outside their illegally built hides on Saturdays and Sundays throwing threatening looks (to say the least) at anyone who dares look at them. One may even be honoured with the presence of a shotgun or a fierce dog as personal assistant - the perpetual cigarette hanging out of the corner of the mouth - not the dog's, of course. Whole areas of rambler territory are blocked off in this way.

And the pity is that most times, not always, these situations are connected to the infamous hunters. Why? Because everyone wants his own dura, like we all want our own house, where to hide from his prey, shelter from inclement weather and store his thermos. At this rate, I might as well parcel off a piece of the street and build my workshop where I shall exercise my hobby in carpentry.

I say a pity about the connection with hunters because, yet again, the self-appointed "hunters, trappers and conservationists (sic)" are actually destroying not conserving. I had a case close to home in recent years. A public lane dividing a number of private properties and used by all to access their respective properties was, one fine day, just chained off by one of the proprietors. This lane also leads to the site of some very important historical remains. When confronted, this "gentleman" said that he did not want anyone going up the lane because it bothered him but that he would open the chain for the use of residents only. Perfect example.

It is now time for action from the powers that be. Rambling is a powerful source of tourism and tourists are not expected to bring their shotgun with them to defend themselves. It is useless having some very useful guide books on walks in Malta if effectively these cannot be used and their plans actually implemented. Our countryside needs clearing and cleaning up and then protecting from usurpers. We need wardens or another section of the ALE; would these wardens be green or brown - both colours match the countryside. But, above all, we need to have legislation covering accessibility to the countryside. Malta is the only EU country not to have such legislation in place.