Ill-planned over-development

Very few would agree with Yves CalG (March 17) that burying a large plot of land in a thickly populated urban area under concrete and squeezing in as many offices, apartments and commercial outlets as possible solely for the sake of profit will contribute to a better quality of life.

The densely populated Gzira/Sliema area has been particularly affected by over-development, which Mr CalG pretentiously calls "progress". The quality of life of residents has been eroded and their health also threatened as dust and vehicle emissions continue to boost our rates of cancer and asthma. Every additional development results in still more overcrowding, increased traffic density with its attendant pollution and strain on the infrastructure. The resulting claustrophobic rabbit-warrens of crowded apartments are nobody's idea of a "better quality of life". Even if these did offer a better quality of life, it comes at a cost which only a few (mostly foreigners, certainly not first-time buyers!) are able to afford.

Until recently Qui-Si-Sana had escaped the ongoing construction frenzy. Most of the demolished residences were elegant, limestone town houses (and not flats). They were certainly not "decrepit" or "in dire need of demolishing".

In any case, it is far more acceptable to rehabilitate and restore a "decrepit" area to its former charm than to turn it into a concrete jungle as is happening now. The Valletta Waterfront was decrepit and the buildings were, of course, a good deal older than 70 years. Thank goodness nobody thought of demolishing those "decrepit" warehouses to make a quick buck.

Mr CalG's suggestion that some owners of vacant flats are the "real movers and shakers behind this protest" because their "older properties will be devalued" is mischievous. By the same token, one could accuse Mr CalG of writing his letter because he stood to gain through this development. Characteristically, Mr CalG tries to soften the blow by appealing to peoples' greed (and contradicting himself in the process). He writes: "Don't the residents of Qui-Si-Sana realise that when this development is completed they will enjoy added value...".

Like many before him, Mr CalG thinks everybody else assesses everything in terms of money. How wrong he is. The pedestrianisation of Tower Road/Bisazza Street, which Mr CalG thinks so highly of, will simply re-route traffic into the narrow residential streets of Qui-Si-Sana which were not designed to cope with such heavy traffic.

Already the area is prone to regular traffic jams, which will become gridlock when traffic is re-routed from Tower Road and the Ferries. Does he consider that the consequent huge increase in cancer-causing toxic emissions will improve quality of life for residents?

The simple fact is that our country is being plundered to temporarily boost Malta's economy with the connivance of a government that panders to the big developers and is out of touch with the people. The character of our islands is being systematically destroyed; this is already having a deleterious effect on our tourism and the nation's health - and there will be worse to come if the orgy of construction for immediate profit continues unabated.

Development as advocated by Mr CalG does not fulfil any social or other need because we already have more than enough dwellings to go round. Ill-planned over-development has already reached the point where Malta has become irretrievably disfigured and people are fed up at seeing familiar landmarks obliterated to make way for yet more development. Those who come after us will not forgive us for this.