Friday, 1st February 2008

Price of hunting

Arnold Cassola, Swieqi.

So what we at Alternattiva Demokratika have been saying for years has now materialised.

Lawrence Gonzi signed an agreement with the hunters in 1998; George Vella had already, signed it in 1996, and since 2004 Simon Busuttil has been championing the cause, deluding hunters that they could go on hunting in spring.

Now we have it from the horse's mouth: The European Commission is bringing Malta before the European Court of Justice for allowing the hunting of quail and turtle dove in spring.

When the court case is over, Malta will be fined hundreds of thousands of euros for infringing EU law.

The majority of the Maltese population is against hunting in spring and cannot, and must not be penalised. Any fines that our country incurs must not be paid for by the taxpayer. It is the politicians and hunting associations who have deluded the hunters on spring hunting that have to personally fork out the money for the fines.

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Article © Allied Newspapers Ltd., printed on Saturday, July 4, 2009. This article is for personal use only, and should not be distributed.

Comments

Ralph Cassar (on 1/2/08)

If Malta does not abide by the EU directives it will be fined. The PN govt. is playing the usual game, MLP as usual too, panders to the hunters too. What a ridiculous duo! So much for PN's European 'modern' credentials too.

Charles Camilleri (on 1/2/08)

Dr. A Cassola is wrong about Malta being fined. The Commission had made it clear that there is no fine for Malta even if it loses the case before the European Court. The fine will be imposed if Malta does not obey the court's rulings.

MARIO SALNITRO (on 1/2/08)

First of all, Malta will not be fined. But do you remember that before we voted for the EU, we were told by Dr Fenech Adami that spring hunting would not be stopped?

Joe Gatt (on 1/2/08)

I agree that spring hunting should be banned. However, Mr Cassola (and Ms Attard) are wrong in making such a fuss about Malta being fined. As is reported elsewhere in today's Times, there will be no fines.

Marisa Attard (on 1/2/08)

And so say all of us except a few thousand hunters of course. Tourism starts increasing in spring and I don't think tourism and hunting go together. I agree with Mr. Cassola about the fines. It is not fair that I fork out my share of the fines when I disagree with hunting in the first place.