What's missing from White Rocks project (1)

I was delighted that, at long last, the rat-infested White Rocks complex is to be converted into an international sports facility. But reading through the newspaper reports and the Prime Minister's speech, it seems that, as usual, the plans cater for nearly all the sport activities imaginable except our sport of target shooting.

At the moment we have quite an anomalous situation regarding this sport. The law covering this sector was changed and at the moment there are hundreds, if not thousands, of citizens who were granted a licence to shoot both rifles and pistols on licensed shooting ranges, but no such ranges exist, especially as regards long guns. This is driving most of my friends to cross over to Sicily to be able to pursue their pastime.

I can easily see the start of a niche tourist market if such ranges were available here in Malta. There are probably more shooting enthusiasts in Europe than there are golfers, for example.

Most civilian rifle shooting competitions overseas take place at 100 metres, maximum 200 metres, so there is really no need for the 900-metre range provided by the AFM ranges. The seaward side of the complex, which originally formed part of the Pembroke ranges, can easily be adapted for such a purpose. An excavator can create a lane and the same machine can be used to build up the sides and the front, where the targets are placed, to an appropriate height. Thus the range would be nearly underground, eliminating the inconvenience and danger to seaborne traffic. It would also lessen noise pollution to nearby residential areas, though these are quite distant from the area mentioned.

I appeal to the Prime Minister, the Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism Mario de Marco, and the Parliamentary Secretary for Youth and Sports Clyde Puli, to insist with the developers to include such a facility in the new sport complex.

The British firearms law is mediocre compared to ours, so sport shooting would be the last thing they would include in their plans.

I have seen the old outdated Arms Ordinance changed to a new law that is one of the best in Europe. Hope I live long enough to see an appropriate rifle range included in this beautiful project.