MHRA backs Ghadira road plans

Peppi Gauci

Feb 24th 2009, 21:41

Sizeable sandy beaches ?? Competing with size is what most of us are not getting ! We need to preserve our natural resources, educate the public on the importance of natural pockets....which by the way, although some don't quite value because of a non immediate monetary gain, nevertheless is a lot more valuable than another stretch of earth choking tarmac for fast bypassers who never have the time to see the flowers let alone smell them.
Its time we actually see the beauty for what it is and help it radiate rather than destroy it for another artificial faulty and unsustainable project.

Maria Pia

Jan 30th 2009, 21:39

Ok!!! Yet another reason NOT to go to Għadira!! Shame on you for your persistence in ruining what was once (and should be) a natural beauty.

G .MANGION

Jan 28th 2009, 10:57

MHRA backs Ghadira road plans

Very Well done MHRA

james cachia

Jan 28th 2009, 06:59

the government can't even take care of the roads we have now, let alone build a new road... more holes in which we would break our wheels...

John Cauchi

Jan 27th 2009, 21:49

Ahhh.. Money-favours win again... as opposed to proper conservation. First we turn the coastline into a concrete mess, then we threaten our remaining environment. Foresta 2000 won't be a peaceful place to go to in 15 years time, after all! Who'd want to stay near a major artery road? And all this in favour of one hotel...

Why doesn't the government use the money for this project to tackle the abhorrent state of the roads in Malta, to repair or remake them, especially in the South of the island? I think most of us have suffered a puncture in the past month, especially after the recent rains... isn't it better value for money?... Especially if the money is for road improvement and better transport infrastructure?

A.E.CAMILLERI

Jan 27th 2009, 21:05

The project is an utter waste of money. Why does the MHRA not press Government to, at least, properly repair our roads ? Surely tourists and we Maltese would be more happy to drive around our island on good and safe roads rather than having a bigger beach. After all we use our roads all the year round 24 hours a day and not for a maximum of 3 summer months. To upgrade our product there is much else to be done. Some of our historical and archeoligical sites are in a miserable state. Why not upgrade them? What about making the countryside more accesible? This is what tourist want. This what we Maltese want; so forget all about destroying more of the little countryside left. Please be sensible!

Mark Vella Bardon

Jan 27th 2009, 09:41

When niether MHRA nor government or council can keep this little beach clean and tidy ... let alone safe ! Who are they going to convince that they can make a "showpiece" of this place! It's bearable in winter except for the filthy oil drums but in summer becomes a forest of umbrellas, sunbeds, and litter. Thank God for it's natural beauty which us mortals have done nothign more than hard work at destroying. A new road is not the answer to either protecting the sandy beach from extinction (if anything the present road presents a buttress) or embellishing the surroundings. The dual carriageway is very efficient, it's the bottleneck into the village resulting from the reluctance of buses and coaches to use the bypass that holds up traffic. The authorities track record on this location is very disappointing. Particularly with allowing the "explosion" of awful apartment blocks visible in the middle fo this picture. Are there no other priorities for using EU funds ... supporting animal welfare NGOs for example?

Matthew Bonanno

Jan 27th 2009, 09:05

Product? Why is everything a product or a brand these days?

As has been said already, if they want to make more space on the beach, it's simple: Remove some of the ugly buildings on said beach.

Also, I wonder what the same tourists that they are wanting to attract would say if they knew about the project?

Compete with Greece and Spain? lol, just lol.

Pierre Attard

Jan 27th 2009, 06:41

of course the MHRA backs the new Ghadira road, they stand to gain. I use the road a couple of times and has never found a problem. The MHRA should urge the government to fix other roads, especially the one leading to Xlendi if it realy wants to upgrade the tourist product, all tourists that go to Gozo pass from this joke of a road. Please dont give us this joke about competing with Spain or Greece regarding our beaches!!

Joseph Calleja

Jan 27th 2009, 01:35

Looking at the picture above, Ghadira Beach does not look so bad without all the umbrellas and vendors crowding the beach! At least you can see the sand.

Mark Seychell

Jan 26th 2009, 22:45

I never thought I would finally see the day when I would agree with lgalea

fabian muliet

Jan 26th 2009, 21:59

Anybody that works in the tourist industry should consider themselves lucky that tourists keep coming here, after coments like these from the MHRA. What about the rest of the island? Why does'nt the government start from other pot holed Roads like Bugibba and Sliema, it makes me feel ashamed whilst driving tourists around. What happened to the Toroq Godda Biex Int Thix Ahjar!!? Another gimmick perhaps.

FMuliet

John Busuttil

Jan 26th 2009, 20:58

1,555 people DO NOT WANT THIS ROAD!
go to this link:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=54346925026

Antoine Grima

Jan 26th 2009, 20:44

As always,MHRA only speaks up when there is money to be made.They try to make us believe that they love the enviroment,same as when they spoke out against spring hunting.They make it sound as if Mellieha beach belongs to them.SHARKS that's all they are.

a attard

Jan 26th 2009, 20:37

Extend the beach artificially its very shallow and probably cheaper then building a new road splitting the natural area in two to the determent of wild life (mainly birds and the fresh water ponds at the back) due to light pollution from the new proposed road BESIDES deprecating the landscape value of the area. The existent road will not be totally removed anyway as it will be turned into a pedestrian zone…. so how is the Beach going to be replenished in natural ways if it still going to have a pedestrian barrier? And how long does the Natural replenishing process of the beach going to take?. Ship in some similar textured sand maybe some can be drenched from the area way out in sea. More and more visiting tourists are interested in Landscape value and Natural aspects of the country they visit espesially in shoulder periods when natural areas are at their best and swimming out at sea is not an activity one can consider - ruining one for the other is not an option.

lgalea

Jan 26th 2009, 19:48

What should be done is to remove ALL beach concessions.
Why should we, Maltese citizens and taxpayers have to pay for using what is OURs.
Beaches do not belong to hotels but to the Maltese public.

A Cutajar

Jan 26th 2009, 19:35

Why keep on harping on this project when other areas in Malta have been literally abondoned? Just take a look at the south of the island: arterial roads there are either badly designed or full of potholes or urgently need an upgrade in view of planned megaprojects (e.g. SmartCity), a revamped MCAST, sewage/urban waste water plants and so many private commercial initiatives!

As someone said before, Ghadira traffic is not the end of the world. MHRA please note that Malta has other more pressing priorities at this point in time. Roads to Marsascala and Zabbar are a case in point as is the case of Valletta road in Zurrieq.

Becky Cachia

Jan 26th 2009, 19:18

By moving the road further inland there is one hotel in particular which benefits. One hotel which has long wanted its own part of the beach.

Chris Vidal

Jan 26th 2009, 17:14

One cannot expect something better than this! well maybe we are going to compete with Spain, Greece etc for tourists by increasing our beach just by a couple of meters. I do not imagine that the increase is going to be greater than this, for sure it is not going to be miles. It was mentioned in this article that neighboring countries boast lovely endless beaches. So what difference a couple of meters are going to do? only to destroy the local habitat including the natural reserve. It is better that we try to increase tourism by promoting Malta for culture, and as a place for good entertainment for young people...who spend most money....and not ONLY for old people ..that obviously spend less. Look at the Greek islands and Spain, Ibiza and neighboring islands. They do not have as much culture as we have but they are capable to market it well ...as an entertainment heaven...and if you had to look at the amount of young people that go there during the 5 summer months...and if you had to calculate the revenue....for sure that we are not going to compete with them by increasing the size of Ghadira

Joseph Stafrace

Jan 26th 2009, 15:19

I believe that if the problem concerns the beach footprint, this can be easily remedied. Remove all the existing beach concessions and build a new one which will be used by the present concession holders on a yearly basis. I have did some travelling and I have never seen so many beach concessions in such a small area.

M Grech

Jan 26th 2009, 14:28

Would anyone expect MHRA to state otherwise? Have a look at the roads around the island and you'll get a very simple idea how to upgrade product Malta!

Kenneth Cassar

Jan 26th 2009, 14:11

How about fixing the old roads instead of making new ones. Marsascala residents have been promised decent roads for years (they even had the cheek to put up a billboard). Who knows...maybe the works will start before the MEP elections.

T.A.. Grima

Jan 26th 2009, 13:41

It would be better for MHRA to first and foremost press for decent existing roads without potholes.
These are our priorities.......

J Borg

Jan 26th 2009, 13:41

With such limited land resources doesn't it make more sense to expand the beach towards the sea?

Antonio Anastasi

Jan 26th 2009, 13:32

I use this road almost every working day at all hours and all seasons, and have never found traffic to be a problem.
It is about time that Malta moves away from offering and competeing on the same sun and sea that other countries are offering.
As an island we have much more to offer apart from sun and sea.Things that are all year round. A mild colourful green winter.A spring rich with the smell of thyme and a pastel coloured summer.
A history and culture older than other countries.
I have spent all my adult life with and around tourists, who appriciate Malta, the lack of sandy beaches has rarely been an issue. The countryside and the history are all things that come as a surprise to most people, visiting the island, which says alot of our marketing
What the goverment should be doing is ensuring that the MHRA is not allowed to build anymore environmentally unfriendly hotels, but are made to follow the example of the Danish village, the ONLY environmentally friendly tourist resort on the island.

Philip Grech

Jan 26th 2009, 13:20

MHRA wishes that Ghadira Bay should be Malta's flagship beach and wishes for a larger footprint. Very easy! Remove all (except sand of course) there is between the road and the sea.

Anthony Formosa

Jan 26th 2009, 12:48

Birdlife Malta always used MHRA to support them on the hunting issue, now it's MHRA who is slamming BLM project, which even FKNK is fully against such road plans which eventually destroys more habitat. Now what BLM has to say to MHRA? And what MHRA has to say, that they care more about the environment than the hunters do. shame on all those who destroy the environment for the sake of money.

mario mifsud

Jan 26th 2009, 12:47

why am i not surprised by the MHRA stance
as for ...
" the new road should not prejudice or negatively affect other developments such as the bird sanctuary and Foresta 2000"
how can this hold water if the road is to cut thru the foresta 200 site?
"MHRA supports any initiative which ensures that our ‘product’ is maximised to the benefit of our industry and that of the Maltese people,"
like turning a one of, tourist village (mistra) into a block of apartments destroying even more the landscape in the area?
How can we regard your comments serious?

rene joseph

Jan 26th 2009, 12:39

of course, it backs the plans. it has an interest in doing. Haven't they done enough damage to Malta?

J. Borg

Jan 26th 2009, 12:15

Maybe the MHRA wishes to illuminate all and sundry how some hotels have abusively taken over public land whilst others have acquired strategic locations, only to then conveniently converting themselves in housing projects.

More specifically on Ghadira, the same Association may wish to comment also on the fact that the beach is dotted with beach accessories by the establishments therein - inducing the public who is unwilling to pay for them, to cram themselves like sardines.

The MHRA must finally learn that it should look towards the long-term sustainability of Malta's tourism income and quality of life, rather than the short-term profits of its members!

Karl Abela

Jan 26th 2009, 12:10

I hope that we can all work on this together and forget our political masks behind us.