Toy boats at Mistra Bay - July 2, 2006

Alas, another of our island's gems is being destroyed! For years Mistra Bay has been a tranquil, clean and charming little bay where one could go to escape the more boisterous beaches of this island.

However all this is rapidly changing. The beach is being taken over by a group of enthusiasts of toy power boats (the radio-controlled type). From two or three boys with toys earlier this year, to a considerable crowd, who have now made literally half the beach their own personal club.

The situation today is that if you wanted to take a dip in the afternoon, you can forget it. These "toys" are whizzing around all over the bay at great speed and being hit by one will certainly not be a toy matter. So we can forget swimming for a start, which if I'm not mistaken is what beaches are primarily all about. Just the noise from these "toys" going on hour after hour with very brief intervals is so loud and nauseating that a quiet sunning session is turned into a buzzing bee head syndrome one.

I have witnessed people fishing with a rod there just for enjoyment and with the hope of catching their dinner give up after a while, fuming, and returning home. Tempers are rising and I will not be surprised to hear of some loud and uncivilised occurrence happening there in the near future... not to mention the usual dose of blasphemy.

So, what's to be done...? Who knows, do we really we live in a country where anything goes? Remember that Mistra Bay is (or was) one of our island's unspoilt beaches; not a kiosk in sight!

Surely there must be some part of our coastline more suitable for our brothers with the whining and whizzing toy boats. I suppose that on reading this letter many of the boys will be up in arms. Well, tough, because a lot more people are up in arms for the simple fact that they can't use one of the few sandy beaches left.

All this is a sad reflection of a mentality that has brutalised Malta's charm. It also reflects the basic Stone Age approach which unfortunately still lingers around us.