Tilting at windmills together

As I write, the heat wave that made walking casseroles of us during the last week seems to be on the way out. If the Irwiegel are right there will probably be rain clouds hovering about as you read this.

On Monday, June 25, the heat wave was probably at its zenith. As I approached City Gate at about 6 p.m., sweltering under a straw hat and furiously fanning my palju there were about half a dozen people and about 30 policemen all of whom were carefully keeping well within the shade cast by that abomination of a structure that was built to accommodate King Carnival in the 1960s. I cannot imagine what the Commissioner of Police must have thought that this protest march to safeguard our environment could have turned out to be. However, as I greeted more and more of my friends, many of whom I have known since childhood, with a slap on the back here and a double (or triple) kiss there, just as I would at any normal party, I could not help being amused about this wearing of belt and braces by the forces of law and order.

As more and more people materialised and the placards were held up high, there was a sudden shout and a bit of booing. The police confiscated a banner they deemed too derogatory; possibly not wanting a repeat of the Vote George Get Lorry saga that happened last time. Having done their duty to the nation, the Forces left us alone for the duration of the proceedings.

The numbers had now swelled to almost a couple of thousand despite the horrendous heat and we were allowed to process down Republic Street without hindrance, blowing our whistles in the most festive of marches.

Much has been said about the Ramla development which ostensibly was the raison d'etre for the protest. The Ulysses Lodge was a controversial building even when it was erected, however, as someone pointed out on the letter page last week, there were no protests when it was built. Of course, there weren't! In those days Mepa did not exist and the political atmosphere was such that one did not dare breathe a whisper of criticism let alone protest publicly. When we did it was about far more vital matters than the replacement of a monstrosity with another one but about the survival of democracy in our country which, two decades on, has enabled people to speak their minds.

The greatest, most important and most lasting achievement of the Nationalist Party since 1987 has been the liberalisation and democratisation of Malta. We now live in an age when we can use constructive criticism to tell those whom we voted into Parliament to serve us, the people, that we do not like what they are doing or not doing. The mentality that the electorate is king only for a day, polling day, is long gone. Dragged out kicking and screaming out of a veritable quicksand of anarchy, dictatorship and totalitarianism of the 1980s, Malta has learned that all idols, once human, have feet of clay and can be toppled at the drop of a hat as was the case in both 1996 and 1998. Even at one's greatest moment of triumph, there will always be that niggling voice reminding one that they are but human. The sooner all politicos come to terms with this reality the better off we will be.

The protest March last week was not just about Ramla l-Hamra but about what has been allowed to happen to our environment since Independence. It took us very long to get going; too long in fact, but now, thanks to a determined and fiery lady by the name of Astrid Vella, who, because of one lost battle over the Last Homely House in Sliema, has now become a national figure. Because of her, the entire gamut of NGOs, instead of acting independently and therefore ineffectually as hitherto, have rallied to her banner and have, in consequence, become a force to be reckoned with.

Thanks to her, attitudes have changed during the last year, so much so that after the Mepa CEO's declaration that it would be boycotting Mrs Vella and FAA, Environment Minister George Pullicino was prompt to distance himself from the organisation. Instead of isolated Don Quixotes tilting at windmills we now have a united cavalcade of Knights of the Round Table who, when banded together, are formidable.

To add fuel to the fire, it looks as if there will now have to be environmental impact assessments carried out on all new projects; about time too! Having seen the artist's impression on a property magazine of what is being proposed for Fort Cambridge, in Tignè, on the site of the former Holiday Inn, I was appalled, not only by the enormity of it as compared to the existing blocks of apartments in the area but, after recently having seen and compared both Valletta baroque and Sliema high-rise from the sea I could say that they just about balance. The erection of this veritable Leviathan of a block will, sure as eggs are eggs, tip the scales, reducing our sad world heritage capital to insignificance.

On one hand we declare loud and clear that our urban and rural environments are the greatest assets to our waning tourism industry and on the other hand, for decades upon decades, successive governments have allowed abomination after abomination to ruin and rape both of them.

Now that EIAs seem to be on the cards I would imagine that a new board, independent of Mepa, should be set up to carry these assessments out. This board must be constituted with representatives from all environmental NGOs as no other composition would lend credibility to it.

There is also one overriding factor to all this. No matter how dearly we love our country and no matter how desperately we wish to preserve its environment, the need for money to be circulated and jobs to be retained is of fundamental importance.

Despite the writing on the wall, which has been as clear as crystal for decades, it appears that we Maltese are utterly incapable of diversifying our financial portfolio and it is de rigueur for anyone who wishes to prosper to invest in property for a decent return. In fact, the return, if one had to compare it to the financial investments on offer, is amazing. Apartments bought in the early 1990s for Lm20,000 now cost five times that amount on average, depending on the location they are in. It is therefore no wonder that everyone with a modicum of business sense wants to be in on the game which, despite the dire prognostications made form time to time, shows no signs of going belly up. It is precisely because of this that Mepa was set up in the first place; to be a whipping boy when unpopular decisions have to be made as in the case of Ramla where there is no honourable way out other than to dismantle what there is and re-landscape the area as if it never was; giving it back to nature. That is why the beach was voted among the most beautiful in the Mediterranean.

Living in Malta is always going to be a tussle. We are small and there are far too many of us as it is. Everyone wants a piece of the collective cake which is normal. What has to be done with urgency now is a serious census of all the empty properties in Malta, both new and old and in both public and private hands. An across-the-board decision as to what must be done with them is to be taken before more building permits are granted either with or without EIAs. In other words, till this census is completed a full stop on new applications of whatever nature is to be implemented forthwith.

There is no other way that building prices will stabilise and maybe give first-time buyers a chance to compete on the market without beggaring themselves and eradicating their quality of life. There is also no other way to control the building frenzy that has gripped us for so many years. Slap a tax on empty properties and harmonisation will be just around the corner.

kzt@onvol.net