Farmers to get their land back

The Prime Minister has told farmers in Manikata that the government is to give them back the land they tilled at Ix-Xaghra l-Hamra, limits of Ghajn Tuffieha, after plans to build a golf course there were dropped.

The announcement, by Dr Gonzi in an e-mail sent to the Harsien Rurali ta' Ghajn Tuffieha committee on Saturday evening, ended two years of limbo for farmers whose livelihoods had been threatened by the project launched in July 2005.

At the time, 30 Manikata farmers had received notices from the Lands Department informing them that the government was claiming back the land leased to them to make way for "a public interest project".

The government has now said that Ix-Xaghra l-Hamra is to be turned into a nature and history park instead of a golf course. Dr Gonzi promised the committee that the government would soon renew the leases (qbiela) on the land.

Some of the farmers who risked being evicted - who had spoken several times to The Times - also risked losing their houses, which are rented out from the government.

Mario Cardona, chairman of the Harsien Rurali ta' Ghajn Tuffieha committee, said the farmers had welcomed the news that the golf course plans had been abandoned "with great joy".

It was indeed positive that the idea of a golf course to attract tourists, in whichever area of Malta and Gozo, seemed to have been abandoned, Mr Cardona said.

It was difficult to imagine that a golf course, wherever placed, would not reduce farm land and create further pressures on the water table, which is indispensable for farmers.

The committee said the farmers welcomed the natural park project as this was compatible with the natural, social, cultural and economic environment, noting it would have liked to have been invited to the government press conference announcing the initiative, at which several NGOs were present.

Mr Cardona said farmers and residents would contribute to the nature park project if they were consulted, since they knew the area well.

Soon after the golf course project was announced in 2005, the farmers had filed a judicial protest against the Commissioner of Lands and the Attorney General, claiming that the land was being taken from them illegally and abusively.

They had told journalists it was unfair that the government wanted to end their lease to aid businessmen and speculators.

The farmers' leases, traditionally renewed on August 15, were not renewed last year even if studies by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority had been halted and there were strong indications that the golf course project would be shelved. Last November, the Office of the Prime Minister did not officially say whether the proposal to build a golf course was being dropped after The Times quoted unofficial government sources saying so.

Speaking in Parliament, Environment Minister George Pullicino had said the studies on the proposal had been finalised and were being examined, adding that the government would not be taking a "hasty decision".

A significant hint that all was not well with the proposal was given by the Prime Minister in last year's budget speech when he said that the government will not "make decisions irrespective of the price to be paid". The choice of Ix-Xaghra l-Hamra had drawn a barrage of criticism from virtually all the environmental NGOs, the Labour Party and Alternattiva Demokratika.

Hydrologist Marco Cremona had made a strong case against locating the golf course at Ix-Xaghra l-Hamra, pointing out that the project could jeopardise the water table.

Mr Cremona, a water treatment engineer who was involved in several environmental impact assessments, had told The Times that more than half the golf course footprint rested on the Mizieb mean sea level aquifer that produces 600,000 cubic metres of potable water annually - equivalent to the volume consumed by the population of Fgura in one year.