Tourism survival...or, simply, survival

The Maltese press is continuously carrying articles on the crisis in the tourism sector, the "Brand Malta" debacle, and what not. I am sorry to have to say this... but why is everybody in the tourism sector so surprised?

Where was everybody when 15-18 years ago we politicians with an environmental conscience (and before us, the environmentalist NGOs) were warning Government and the people involved in the tourism sector that continuous uncontrolled and unsustainable development was going to kill Malta's lifeline?

Today's results are simply the natural consequence of our politicians' (and nouveau riche contractors') warped way of reasoning. So, please stop moaning and shedding crocodile tears.

We environmentalists and politicians with a vision fought hard: we stopped Michael Refalo from developing the Fond Ghadir beach into private lidos; we prevented what is today the beautiful Marnisi vineyard in Marsaxlokk from becoming a fully fledged beer factory; we stopped Tal-Fekruna Bay from being turned into flats; we succeeded in blocking the Federici 6,000 (yes six and three zeros!)-bed village project on the Ta' Cenc cliffs, being convicted and being sent to jail, in the process.

We won all these battles, but we lost so many others. The Maltese coast has been handed out to a privileged few: the virgin Pembroke/St George's area is today totally taken over by overgrown hotels, five-star establishments that have to charge three-star prices to fill up their beds.

The Hilton area has become a mass of cement, which has completely obliterated Spinola Palace and its gardens. Balluta Bay has sacrificed its quaint character to the Count of Montecristo's mass cement gift to humanity.

Tigné Point is rapidly becoming a high-rise nonentity. I shudder to think of what is going to befall Manoel Island over the next quarter of a century. Tas-Sellum in Mellieha is also up for grabs. And then in Gozo, Chambray, Hondoq ir-Rummien, San Lawrenz, Mgarr, Ta' Cenc: the competition is on as to who can 'uglify' Malta and Gozo in the quickest and most efficient way.

And then we have the cheek to ask ourselves why tourists are not coming to Malta! Sliema, St Julian's, Marsalforn, Xlendi, Marsascala, Bugibba, St Paul's Bay... all quaint seaside towns that have sold their character to cementification and money. And our beaches?

Drainage in Bugibba, continuous overflow of sewage in Marsamxett harbour overlooking Manoel Island... where the Sliema-Valletta ferry boat berths; shanty camping sites in Gnejna, Selmun... the first littered with human excrement, the second with tens of grey litter bags with food and plastic leftovers.

Where human excrement is (luckily) missing, we have made up for with fish farms. Go to Delimara. You can smell the stink of the tuna fish bait as soon as you pass Tas-Silg church. Enter the bay and all sorts of flotsam and jetsam and brownish froth, coming from the nearby tuna pens, have turned this once charming paradise into another near stagnant pond.

And EU samplers found that many other popular bays have been polluted with chemicals: St George's Bay; Xlendi, Marsascala, Fond Ghadir, Exiles, Spinola. You do not need the EU bright sparks to come up with this.

Elementary, dear Watson: do you want marinas and boat havens? Then that means anti-fouling and, consequently, chemical pollution. You either swim or you have the marina. You cannot have both. Our politicians and contractors have wanted the cake and eat it too.

Today, all Maltese, Gozitans and tourists alike are suffering the consequences of this greed. And when I say politicians, I also mean Alfred Sant; the man is obsessed with yacht marinas and golf courses! That is his policy for the ailing Maltese tourist industry. "Tal-genn," one would say in Maltese.

So, the game is over, guys. We can only start talking about tourism as a lifelong investment for our population the day we decide to invest in and enhance our historical landmarks and natural diversity.

The day we decide, on the example of Mallorca in 1995, to pull down hotels and turn them into fields, then let us start talking again about a Maltese tourism industry.

Until then we have other more serious survival problems in our country. Both are connected to climate change. The first concerns the drastic rise in temperatures all over the world, and in the Mediterranean, in particular.

A recent study has shown that within the next 60 years or so the Mediterranean will become quite an unbearable place to live in, with average temperatures rising by around 4°C.

It is believed that today's Mediterranean tourists will be relocating to the Northern European beaches to cool off. What initiatives are being taken by the Maltese politicians of today not only to make up for the expected dramatic economic losses in tourism, but also to ensure that future generations of Maltese will be able to survive comfortably in the rising temperatures?

The second serious problem is linked to the rising levels of the sea. Until some time ago President George W. Bush, unlike Bill Clinton, was denying the existence of climate change. A good excuse not to ratify the Kyoto protocol.

Hurricane Katrina, and the consequent New Orleans saga, has finally forced Mr Bush to acknowledge reality. And now, American and European scientists have finally agreed on a common yardstick by which to measure the rising sea water levels... a natural consequence of global warming.

A few weeks ago, at a meeting of the EU environmental ministers in Brussels (was Minister Pullicino there?), it was clearly stated that the sea in the Mediterranean might be rising by as much as one metre in the next 30 years or so.

The situation is so serious that, as from 2007, the EU will be setting up a European phone helpline, so that EU citizens will be able to input their home town code and get to know, more or less, by how much the water will rise in their vicinity in the near future.

This means that the people in Burmarrad, Pietà and Msida can already, as from next year, get an idea whether they will be two feet under water or not in 2040.

Let us scrap "Brand Malta" and all useless blabber on the state of tourism today. Maltese politicians should have planned the fate of tourism in 2006... in 1980. Now, "the deed is done!" But, at least let us learn from our mistakes and plan for the future in a positive and effective way. Maltese politicians are still in time today to plan for a decent quality of life for all Maltese and Gozitans inhabiting our archipelago in 2040-2050. Are we ready to take up this challenge?

arnold.cassola@alternattiva.org.mt

Professor Cassola, secretary general of the European Green Party between 1999 and 2006, is a Green MP elected in the Italian parliament on the Romano Prodi list.