Disillusioned ramblers feel snubbed

The Ramblers' Association feels that politicians who have expressed sympathy with their cause have done nothing to protect the natural environment, association president Lino Bugeja said yesterday.

The Ramblers' Association was set up two years ago to lobby against swathes of public countryside and paths being closed off abusively by gates, fences and RTO signs.

Despite the NGO's efforts and petitioning in favour of an unrestricted countryside that could be enjoyed by the public, the outcome of meetings with ministers and officials, who should have acted to remove irregularities had only led to false hopes and empty promises, Mr Bugeja told fellow ramblers at the association's annual general meeting, held at Din l-Art Helwa's headquarters in Valletta.

"Our blind optimism has been completely shattered as we sadly witness our countryside being systematically clawed away by developers, pseudo-farmers, squatters, trappers and hunters as pathways, garigue and prime areas of scenic beauty are closed off with impunity," Mr Bugeja said.

When all civilised countries have passed new laws giving citizens the right to walk and roam unhindered in the countryside, Malta was still bogged down by medieval laws drawn up when the concept of walking for pleasure and well-being never entered the minds of the legislators.

A petition requesting Parliament to issue a White Paper on the state of the country had fallen on deaf ears.

The RA president accused the authorities of being insensitive to the country's natural heritage, saying the government had failed to issue a definitive map of the Maltese Islands, and still had not defined the foreshore and coastal zone.

Idyllic places like Fomm ir-Rih bay were still closed off, as the authorities failed to curb the ever increasing hostility, intimidation and harassment of ramblers in the countryside.

During a conference on sustainable development held last year, government officials had acknowledged these problems. But the emphasis made on the urgency to address blatant irregularities then turned out to be another example of how those at the helm "develop cold feet when it comes to execution as an impotent nation watches the rape of our natural heritage".

Mr Bugeja said future generations would not judge us by the number of roads opened or by the concrete jungle scarring towns and villages, but by the quality of life prepared for them in the form of open spaces, and an unspoilt, unpolluted natural environment accessible to all.

The association did have its minor successes as it raised national awareness on the need to preserve the countryside, Mr Bugeja said, stressing, however, that in the world of conservation and protection "all our victories are temporary; only our defeats are permanent".

Reiterating Mr Bugeja's claims, the association's administrative report, penned by secretary Alex Vella, noted that letters of encouragement and support from people and an increasing number of members kept the association going, but it was disheartening to see that meetings with the authorities were not being followed up by serious action.

"The degrading situation of access to country paths continued to be thematic in the numerous meetings with various authorities from the Prime Minister down to the EU Permanent Representative Joanna Drake, though of no consequence at all, in my opinion," Mr Vella said.