Crucial budget for heritage and environment - FAA
Tomorrow’s budget was a crucial one for heritage and the environment, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar (FAA) said.
The organisation said that with national monuments like Forts St. Elmo and Angelo in an advanced state of deterioration, funding for the restoration of national heritage and scrupulous governance of available EU funding was a priority.
It called on the government to finally activate the Heritage Trust, intended to provide restoration grants to owners of listed buildings or buildings situated in a conservation area.
FAA said that as Malta’s obligations to start producing alternative energy could no longer be postponed, there should be realistic incentives to encourage a more widespread use of alternative energy equipment by the domestic, commercial, agricultural and industrial sectors.
Initiatives were also required to assist the implementation of energy efficiency measures in buildings, such as double-glazing and insulation, as well as the construction of rainwater cisterns for all buildings.
On the rampant illegal extraction of water, FAA said that while the registration exercise was a step in the right direction, it had to be followed up by direct and immediate action, such as the metering of registered boreholes.
Investment was urgently required to provide treated sewage effluent and storm water to replace groundwater use by agriculture and industry.
FAA said the subsidy on electricity consumed by the Water Services Corporation should be removed. It argued that a nation-wide educational campaign on energy and water savings in all sectors would help curb consumption.
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Joe Morana
Nov 3rd 2008, 13:51
Some good news. The much needed clean-up of Lower Fort St Elmo commenced last Friday.
dusty william
Nov 3rd 2008, 13:01
Does any of you pass by Maghtab Hills by night? Its like Hell, balls of fire, smoke coming out of eveywhere! Do you call that environment? it still smells toxic and you can actually spot fire from Qawra.
albert caruana
Nov 3rd 2008, 10:28
What Peter says about Paul says more about Peter than about Paul.
I therefore ask myself what is it that really motivates Mr Vella's rant against the use of such alternative valid sources of water?
Most countries recycle their waste water a few dozen times and feed it back not just to rivers and lakes but also directly into the drinking water system which people use not just to water plants but also to wash themselves, their houses, places of work and their clothes, to cook their food in and, often enough to drink.
Storm water is collected everywhere and purified in water treatment plants before being used as drinking water.
Sewage goes to different, more intensive purification plants for various reasons - removal of the chemical gunk the population and industry pours down the drain to avoid polluting the environment and to permit the water to be fed back into the water supply.
These people also eat the produce of fields fertilized with liquid untreated manure.
Some such countries boast people who are the tallest in the world - a sign of excellent health and nutrition.
victor vella
Nov 3rd 2008, 07:14
Using treated sewage effluent and rainwater,mainly coming off the streets for agriculture purposes would be the death knoll for farmers as then we wouldonly eat imported produce.Has the person issueingthe statement ever bought such produce?it is sour, and won'tlast more then 2 days after cutting before rotting.
laurence schembri
Nov 2nd 2008, 20:50
What environment? This little Island is a pig-sty.