Enough mega projects

How much more building development has to take place in Malta and Gozo before we realise we are irreversibly damaging our environment? I seem to remember the Nationalist Party using the slogan For Our Children And Our Children's Children. Surely, this is not what we are doing in as far as the environment goes. I hope I am wrong but I get the impression that we are devouring our "green areas" at an alarming rate.

After the Mistra Bay saga and the approval of an outline permit for the construction of 800 residential units on Xemxija ridge, it seems that the Mellieħa Bay Hotel has applied to build 98 bungalows outside the development zone! According to my rough calculations, these bungalows will occupy a footprint in the region of 70,000 square metres or, put in terms that are more easily understood, an area equivalent to the size of 10 football pitches placed side by side!

The same press report quotes a government notice that clearly states that the area lies between two proposed sites of community interest. So there we have it. If this permit is ever approved it will be another case of property development taking preference over the "community interest". Why does the Structure Plan designate development zones and Mepa continues to sanction projects outside these zones? Why have development zones at all? Who do we think we are we kidding?

I am also intrigued by the fact that this project is being piloted by the same developer who spearheads the Midi development at Tignè. After causing what Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar (FAA) describes as "environmental damage at Tignè", the developers had the gall to advocate the diversion of traffic so that it passes close to the shopping malls of the same development. If this diversion materialises, it will obviously be beneficial to the Midi shopping malls at the expense of the entire commercial establishment at the Ferries.

If you were to look at the Valletta skyline from the Kalkara side of the Grand Harbour you will surely notice a newly-constructed penthouse or whatever with a jumbo sized satellite dish sticking out like a sore thumb. Is nothing worth protecting or preserving anymore, not even our capital city?

I am all in favour of the free market economy so long as it retains a good dose of social responsibility. I do not belong to the "money at all costs brigade", which seems to have taken over the mindset of many Maltese entrepreneurs, notably in the construction business. Businesses will come and go but these mega projects will be a lasting testimony to our country's short-sightedness.

Many tell me that property development is a necessary "evil" as it drives an important part of our economy. That being the case, why don't we encourage these same developers to divert their energies and finances to the development of our transport infrastructure? An underground transport system will keep them all busy for years to come and also address one of Malta's most serious problems of the next decade.

I end with an appeal to everybody who is in a position of power and influence to preserve and protect the ever-dwindling open spaces left on this tiny island we call home.

No more mega developments. No more golf courses. Enough is enough.