Leave the public domain public

For a while now locals have been complaining at the way entrepreneurs appropriate large and prime chunks of public beaches with paraphernalia they can rent out for a profit.

A few weeks back, a neighbour stopped me and asked me to write again about this problem, especially on sandy beaches.

I get many such requests, which are usually kept on hold until I get enough complaints to warrant publicising the issue.

Last summer, I had gone to have a look at a few beaches after various people had asked me to, and I wrote about the many problems, the most serious being encroachment of the beach by entrepreneurs with canoes, beds and umbrellas. But there was also a problem with cleanliness and safety.

What had particularly struck me was that I had spoken to Rudolf Ragonesi of the Gaia Foundation, who told me that the bay at Ghajn Tuffieha is the only one with a conservation order, which should prohibit any commercial activity.

He had said that the foundation has a five-year contract with the Ministry of the Environment and MEPA to manage the bay; however, it has no control over the commercial activity, for which the same authorities issue permits.

Apparently, a year later the problem persists. This is the kind of thing the authorities should rectify. However, one beach is getting some attention lately. The Malta Tourism Authority has spent over Lm30,000 to upgrade Mellieha Bay to Blue Flag standard.

This includes having a manager, lifeguards, two people during the week and four at weekends to clean the beach regularly from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and a supervisor to make sure the work gets done.

From what I gather this team of three on weekdays and five at weekends also act as wardens.

"We are patrolling the beaches and asking operators to move back their beach paraphernalia. The problem is the second we turn our backs, they're back in the same spot," beach supervisor Carmel Zammit told The Times reporter Ariadne Massa, adding: "We waste a lot of time arguing and going to and fro to check everyone is abiding by the law, but there is still need for supervision and sometimes we have to bring in the police."

I must say it seems a lot to ask - patrolling and cleaning from six in the morning to six in the evening in the scorching sun - from three people on weekdays and five at weekends, unless they are given frequent breaks to cool off.

The article giving me this information about Ghadira (Mellieha Bay) on The Times' back page on Monday had me giggling at the excuses people use to appropriate public space.

"I admit that today (my emphasis) we did set up a few beach beds out of our footprint, but in these scorching temperatures it's exhausting to be lugging beach furniture at noon," said Marthese Caruana, who runs the Marea Beach Club, while complaining that the regulations were "not fair".

What about the poor people having to keep an eye on them for 12 hours a day to ensure they stay in line, while also cleaning up everyone's rubbish, probably for little return? The latter are the ones my heart bleeds for. In fact, I think a proportion of the fines incurred by these operators should go towards these people. It would also motivate them and prevent any attempts to stop them doing their job properly.

Another operator, Martin Cini, from the San Remo Beach Club, complained that the footprint they are allowed, which could take 80 beach beds, was too small, especially on weekends when the demand was for about 250.

These people amuse me. First they take over what is public and turn it into their own little private domain, then when the authorities, after years of neglect, decide to do something about the infringement, they expect us to feel sympathy for them because they have to lug their equipment (which they make money from) around and are finally being stopped from monopolising a public area.

I suppose ideally, for them, they should be allowed to cement a base and nail the beds and umbrellas down, so they would never have to lug them. And give the locals, who cannot afford or do not want to pay for beach equipment, a sealed off patch close to the road. That is what they probably would see as "fair".

It does not even occur to them that 'setting up shop' on a public beach was "not fair" to begin with.

Ms Caruana complained that the regulations favoured the Maltese who took up the shoreline, leaving them little space to rent out beach beds and umbrellas to tourists who preferred a spot next to the sea.

What a cheek we Maltese have to expect that a public beach is just that, and that a public area means it is free air space! If tourists want a prime location on a public beach they have the same opportunity as a local, whereas locals do not always have access, even on payment, to hotel private beaches.

Anyway, it is not the tourist who is complaining. We are the ones who have no concept of what a public beach or a garden really means and that includes the authorities, I will explain why I am including the latter later.

Not everyone can afford to pay for certain amenities. That is why there are public beaches and gardens. Let there be entrepreneurial initiatives by all means, but leave the public domain public.

We have few enough open spaces left where families can spend their leisure time, which have not been taken over by private developers. The little we have must be protected.

However, it is not only the operators who are selfish, although they also make money out of flouting the law.

"Nobody can set up beach furniture right on the shoreline. There has to be a space of three to four metres, but everybody conveniently ignores this," Joe Dalmas, from the Tourism Ministry's beach cleaning section, said. Adding, "if things don't change we will be taking action. Boundaries cannot continue being pushed."

Music to my ears, if that line of thought could be extended to noise pollution and across the board this island might become a really fantastic place.

To achieve that we need to stop having double standards by stopping one abuse while condoning another.

For example, while clamping down on the operators who monopolise large areas at Mellieha Bay, the authorities are closing the Upper Barracca Gardens in Valletta completely for private functions on a regular basis.

I have written about this before and once even had to defend the freedom of the press in court after trying to find out why the Upper Barracca Gardens had been closed to the public.

The problem was brought to my attention again recently, after an acquaintance told me it was the subject of debate on the bus she was travelling on. People were complaining that weddings were now being held at the Upper Barracca Gardens, making them inaccessible to the public.

A public garden is just that. An amenity which the public can use all the time, not only on days that no profit can be made out of leasing it to a private company or individual.

It is one thing to lease a historical venue, which is not regularly used by the public, on occasion, but to close the Upper Barracca for private functions on a regular basis is appalling and unacceptable.

When I mentioned (to the person who brought this item to my attention) that the people in Valletta have little space for relaxation, she told me that it is not just the Valletta residents, who were complaining, but also that people from all over the island like visiting the Barracca.

Not only should the Valletta council be looking after the residents' interests, but also it seems that Maltese all over the island want access to this popular public garden. Besides, the Tourism Authority should balk at having one of our bestselling venues closed to tourists.

Which reminds me... I sent an e-mail to customer care at the MTA on Thursday asking how many lifeguards are on duty at Mellieha Bay, and another query.

I received the following reply on Friday: "Dear Ms Hansen, kindly direct your query to our Product Planning Directorate, more precisely to Mr Roderick Zammit (roderick.zammit@visitmalta.com) as he would be in the best position to advise you on the matter."

Had the lady who responded to my request just forwarded my e-mail to Mr Zammit, which is what I did, I might have received a response in time for this article.