Save Ħondoq Movement welcomes grant to rebut EIA

The Save Ħondoq Movement has welcomed the financial grant by the government to the Qala local council to commission a critical analysis of the environmental impact assessment made for the controversial Ħondoq ir-Rummien marina development.

"This shows that the government is conscious of the negative impact such a project will leave on the area," the movement said.

On Monday, The Times reported that the government had given a grant of €10,000 (Lm4,293) to the Qala local council to commission two reports it needed to rebut the voluminous EIA for the project. The council is hoping that the reports will provide it with technical ammunition against the project.

The request was filed in April by the council itself on the insistence of Save Ħondoq Movement, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar (FAA) and various environmental NGOs, after it was informed that the two technical reports it had requested in order to rebut two of the seven areas of the EIA would cost €10,000 - the equivalent of the council's entire budget for this year.

The movement reiterated yesterday that it does not understand how, with a stroke of a pen, without any consultation, the local plan for the Ħondoq area was changed from an outside development zone to a development zone, adding that, on this basis, the Malta Environment and Planning Authority is being asked to revise the decision that was taken in 2006 and give Ħondoq the status it once had.

"The movement's aim was, is, and will be, to have Ħondoq enjoyed by everyone," the movement said.