Upgrading the law of the land

Even before its official inception The Ramblers' Association of Malta had been very active in defending our beautiful countryside and coastal zones by way of protection of public paths which all too often are obstructed, overgrown or misappropriated.

Regrettably, Malta still lacks a definitive map of public right of way, a situation which puts us at the very bottom of the Rambling League in the European context where such maps are available for guidance and public inspection at the offices of local councils. Exactly five years ago, the Ramblers' Association, in complete agreement with members from both sides of the House, presented a petition requesting Parliament to initiate discussions on the plight of the Maltese countryside and coastal zones in the form of a White Paper; however this initiative was turned down.

Since then the association has had various meetings and consultations with top government officials in order to give a new generation of Maltese citizens, craving for a better quality of life, constitutional protection in line with other European countries in the full realisation that the main difficulties encountered by local and foreign ramblers are mainly legal.

Suffice it to state that for over four years the Ramblers' Association has been striving hard, in conjunction with the Land Department, to reclaim decent accessibility to the pristine bay of Fomm ir-Riħ (Mouth of the Wind) limits of Baħrija to no avail. When the promontory of Munxar in St Thomas Bay was closed to the public about three years ago, the then honorary secretary Alex Vella had to spend over a week searching relevant notarial deeds and contracts to finally discover that the British military authorities in 1940 had purchased a pathway that runs across the whole promontory thus rendering this scenic spot accessible to the public, an exercise that cost the association over €100.

In pursuance of its objectives, the Ramblers' Association, after studying various aspects relating to the Constitution of Malta, submitted another petition two years ago to the parliamentary select committee on constitutional amendments recommending, inter alia, the inclusion of measures in line with the main aims of the association namely to identify and to ensure the maintenance of a network of public footpaths in the open countryside and to establish and preserve the right of access to the countryside and coastal zones. For some reason this request to the select committee has not even been acknowledged.

Very few people realise that the well-intentioned Mepa reform is more focused on development control and less on the general environment. Furthermore, many people subscribe to the mistaken belief that the Mepa reform includes the thorny question of accessibility. Nothing can be further from the truth because this bane inflicted on nature lovers is a legal matter and does not fall under Mepa's remit but exclusively under the Land Department. While the Council of Europe is working on proposals to extend accessibility policies to the countryside as a whole by considering it as "heritage landscape" we are still mired in archaic laws that discourage the ever-increasing demands of outdoor pursuits like rambling, particularly "wilderness rambling".

Recommendations for updating the law of the land in this regard have been included in the national commission report on A Sustainable Development Strategy For the Maltese Islands: 2006-2016. In the section on marine and coastal environment the reports states inter alia: "the enjoyment of coastal areas depends on accessibility... Measures need to be taken so that access to the coast is possible, whether the land is private or owned by government" (3.1.7). The report also urges the government to improve accessibility to the natural environment as this could be a source of improved health recommending a nationwide public footpath policy which delineates paths the public can use.

The section on leisure and the environment (3.1.11) underlines our longstanding requests which so far have fallen on deaf ears. "It is therefore desirable," states the report, "that public footpaths are identified in the countryside and false claims to land title checked. Paths that are abusively closed to the public should be opened."

In the light of these recommendations it is only reasonable to expect a study of land tenure in Malta on the lines of the Mepa reform in order to bring it in line with other European countries by extending rambling areas and adopting a "golden plan" through the statutory inclusion of the recommendations in the development strategy 2006-2016.

Mr Bugeja is honorary president of the Ramblers' Association of Malta.