Sannat silence on golf course

Sannat has councillors from both the Malta Labour Party and the Nationalist Party. Nothing wrong with that, but to have a council which is not able to take an official stand against the destruction of the picturesque plateau of Ta' Cenc which is being...

Sannat has councillors from both the Malta Labour Party and the Nationalist Party. Nothing wrong with that, but to have a council which is not able to take an official stand against the destruction of the picturesque plateau of Ta' Cenc which is being threatened by further unsustainable development, is not acceptable.

This magical plateau has long been earmarked for such a development. Long before the local council was established, people had united to protest and somehow the building of an exclusive tourist village on this site was postponed.

However, lately both the Prime Minister and the Leader of Opposition have agreed on the destruction of this natural site for the sake of building a golf course. In his Budget 2006 speech, the Prime Minister insisted on the "need" for a golf course at Ta' Cenc, while the Labour Party in its discussion paper on environmental policy did the same.

Both parties, however, stress that a golf course should stand alone and should not serve as an excuse for more building and speculation. However, a golf course alone is no money-spinner. It is the development around it which is the pot of gold. For those who expect to make millions from such buildings, destroying the wilderness is a negligible price to pay.

The only party with a clear stand about this unsustainable development is Alternattiva Demokratika. AD's Gozo Regional Committee insists that such a development would threaten the natural and archaeological heritage of the area. However AD also came up with alternatives for attracting tourism to the island such as agro-tourism, eco and heritage tourism among others.

One can now understand (but not accept) why the Nationalist and Labour councillors of Sannat are still silent about the issue and have not come up with a clear stance against the destruction of our unique heritage. This is an example of local councillors simply adopting the party line when voting on purely local issues.

This is not what we want. Just imagine the difference a candidate of Alternattiva Demokratika - the Green Party can make on the council.

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