Sunday, 27th July 2008

Concrete monstrosity in Dwejra still standing

The concrete block mars Dwejra's beauty.

Alternattiva Demokratika has condemned the "concrete monstrosity" which continues to mar Dwejra, even though the development was halted by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority four months ago.

AD spokesman for Gozo Victor Galea said the structure remained an eyesore. Nobody had taken responsibility for it despite promises by the government to transform Gozo into an eco-island.

The structure, intended to become the 'Dwejra Interpretation Centre', is part of a heritage management plan for the area approved in 2005. This paved the way for the controversial sanctioning of a number of illegal boathouses though it also proposes conservation measures for the entire area.

Mepa halted works on the centre - which it is also proposed will house a cafeteria - on March 25, saying it would be investigating "possible deviations from the approved plans". However, it is still standing.

Mr Galea said: "The Gozo Ministry and the San Lawrenz Council need to realise that quality tourists do not visit Gozo to see a concrete monster in an area of natural beauty," he said.

"Promoting Gozo through the distribution of pictures of the Azure window is not enough, especially if tourists are then surprised by such a state of abandon and irregularities upon visiting the place," he said, adding that there were some 80 enforcement notices over illegal developments in the area.

Carmel Cacopardo, AD spokesman for sustainable development, also emphasised that it was shameful that a place which was meant to be developed into a heritage park through EU funding now represented a clear example of the "the law of the jungle".

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Article © Allied Newspapers Ltd., printed on Sunday, November 8, 2009. This article is for personal use only, and should not be distributed.

Comments

D Camilleri (on 27/7/08)

theyre just waiting for the ''deviations from the plan'' to be approved, somehow, .. just bend the rules slightly and make everything fit.
but then again we all knew the developers rule the country,

elsie coucom (on 27/7/08)

I simply cannot believe that nothing has been done about this monstrosity, especially considering all the letters and complaints! It is now the middle of the tourist season and I just wonder what visitors must think. What excuse does MEPA have this time? Can't the Gozo Tourist Association do anything about it? It is very, very sad to see Gozo going to the dogs! Although I live there several months of the year, I am afraid I cannot recommend it to anyone anymore.
It is about time the Government (PM) made good the promise to reorganize and clean-up MEPA and to stop ODZ development once and for all!

James A. Tyrrell (on 27/7/08)

Can I suggest that someone in Government does something unusual here and makes a decision, which will benefit the environment by ordering the removal of this thing? Disposal would not be a major problem as it could be dumped offshore somewhere close by and would eventually become an artificial reef which would benefit the local fish.

As things stand at the moment it appears that the Government are doing what they normally do in cases like this, which is waiting for the dissenting voices to die down before telling the developer he can resume building!