Natural and man-made environmental impact

The Azure Window in Dwejra, Gozo has always been an attractive place for visitors. Formed by thousands of years of natural erosion, the Azure Window has become an iconic tourist destination. But its arch is disintegrating and, according to a study for the Ministry for Gozo, its collapse is inevitable.

The news raises questions about the existential danger posed to people walking over the arch and those swimming beneath it – no health and safety controls appear to be being exercised – and whether, indeed, any steps could cost-effectively be taken to save the Azure Window from total collapse.

The effect of nature on our living environment is inevitable. It is a constant process that leads to changes which, like the predicted collapse of the Azure Window, constitute a sad loss to the environment, and others, like the erosion of cliffs and coastlines that may improve it.

Contrast the setback as a result of nature in Dwejra with the man-made mishaps and adverse impacts on the Maltese environment as a result of barely controlled and seemingly unstoppable building development. For the majority of ordinary people, who have endured literally decades of dust, cranes, inconvenience and the loss of their centuries-old traditional architecture, there seems to be a civic backlash occurring against the bull-dozer and the jack-hammer and the progressive loss of the few urban open spaces in their communities.

How else otherwise to explain the current vocal rumblings coming from residents in St Julians, Spinola Bay and Sliema? These are but the tip of the iceberg, coming from people who by dint of their background and education, are more articulate and capable of expressing their discontent. A survey of St Paul’s Bay, Mellieħa, Marsascala or the Three Cities would almost certainly evoke the same reaction.

The nine major projects planned within a radius of five hundred metres of each other in the already densely built-up area of St Julians and Spinola have led to protests from the St Julians Residents Association. Residents in Sir Arturo Mercieca Street – possibly once one of the most elegant streets in Sliema – are up in arms over the concentration of simultaneous developments in the area, which are making life intolerable for them. Similar complaints can be heard stretching from Sir Adrian Dingli Street to Qui-si-Sana and Tignè Point. While even the developer of Tignè Point has recognised the adverse impact on the environment of the latter, he is in danger of repeating the same man-made mistake at Manoel Island.

The effect on the quality of life of people in these areas – and throughout our country, which has been a giant construction site for years – is unacceptable and intolerable. In an incisive Talking Point in this newspaper assessing the new structure plan being proposed by the government, Martin Scicluna wrote that “the paramount environmental challenge facing Malta is the need to control building development and the way we use and share this tiny land. The qualities of thrift and moderation must replace the laissez faire attitude of the last 50 years... There needs to be a radically different approach to the National Spatial Strategy. It must start from the presumption of a determination to shift the argument, as a matter of government policy, against further speculative construction development and in favour of establishing a clear economic or social need before development may be permitted”.

How this is done is a matter for technical discussion. But the overriding common good demands that we do it.