'Voting document' for the environment
Din l-Art Helwa is launching an online voting document that will allow the public to express their priorities for the protection of Malta’s natural and cultural heritage.
Executive President, Simone Mizzi, said ‘Din l-Art Helwa is apolitical.
"Our organisation cannot ask the public which political party to vote for in the forthcoming elections, nor for which candidate. However, we can ask the public which messages an organization like Din l-Art Helwa can take to the political parties and their candidates. The data that will be captured by this online voting system will indicate which goals the public want politicians to set themselves when dealing with the many important and urgent issues that afflict our natural environment and our unique cultural and built heritage. We fervently hope that the parties will then take these messages on board and give them priority when drawing up their national programmes."
The voting document consists of 12 points dealing with major national issues. It will be available online on Monday through the Din l-Art Helwa website www.dinlarthelwa.org and on Facebook.
Din l-Art Helwa will also be asking politicians to communicate their own personal wishes through this voting document.
Results collated from the poll will be published weekly.
A VOTING DOCUMENT FOR THE CULTURAL AND NATURAL HERITAGE
Please number each issue in order of the priority you wish our
politicians to give it
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Culture pays: Dedicate another 1% of the total national budget to the enhancement of our built heritage and national monuments. These guarantee employment through tourism, maintenance, use and restoration. |
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Stop the Building: Prevent the despoliation of Malta’s remaining countryside, protect the landscape and public views from development and take action against illegal use of land. |
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Environmental catastrophes: Give us a national strategy to help us cope in case of earthquakes, tsunamis, oil spills, and disasters brought about by climate change. |
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Promote sustainable water: Let’s face it. The lack of water and the heavy cost of creating it is a most critical national issue. Give us a strategy and halt illegal ground water extraction to protect the aquifer. |
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Save our national memory: Our national library and archives are in grave state of decay. Dedicate more resources to save the collections of our written memory. Prioritise digitalization and invest in new technology to guarantee their survival. |
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Reverse the culture on trees: Trees are not an expendable commodity, nor are they a public nuisance. Please protect green lungs in urban areas. |
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Stop illegal hunting: especially in park land areas like the Majistral Heritage and Nature National Park |
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Meet targets for alternative energy and reduction of waste: Invest creatively in more communication programmes to help the public understand what we can all do to help at domestic, commercial and industrial level. |
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Protect our local agriculture: By offering incentives to farming communities and by restricting importation of foreign produce we can guarantee livelihoods and protect the natural environment. |
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Protect the marine environment and our fish stocks: Promote traditional fishing methods and a culture for the sustainable consumption of fish to preserve Malta’s artisanal fisherman and our marine resources. |
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More heritage and art at school: Dedicate a few more hours a week to the teaching of heritage, history and the arts both at primary and secondary school level. |
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Prevent migration from our traditional urban and rural centres: By offering financial benefits to regeneration initiatives, we can bring new life to our old town and village centres, prevent people fleeing these areas and maintain our island’s unique architectural character. |
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21 Comments
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Joe Grech
Jan 13th, 21:16
Diedun:Victor Laiviera was right:"Din l-Art Ħelwa was the only NGO that endorses the Governments plans for the Gateless Gate,the Roofless Theater & Parliament on Stilts." He forgot to say DLH even supported digging a huge quarry to build an underground museum for StJohn Cathedral - when even MEPA said it was a crazy idea!
DLH is jst lapdog to Govt to land cushy jobs,it has no more credibility
Alan Deidun
Jan 13th, 22:51
@Joe Grech.....first of all, you dont need to post the same comment three times to make your point.....this is tantamount to shouting down someone....secondly, please learn how to spell others' surnames. Thirdly, I take it you are an authority on the subject matter in question to make such bold statements.....are you putting in practice part of the PL's pledge to start listening more to ENGO's?
Joe Grech
Jan 13th, 20:14
Diedun:Victor Laiviera was right:"Din l-Art Ħelwa was the only NGO that endorses the Governments plans for the Gateless Gate,the Roofless Theater & Parliament on Stilts." He forgot to say DLH even supported digging a huge quarry to build an underground museum for StJohn Cathedral - when even MEPA said it was a crazy idea!
DLH is jst lapdog to Govt to land cushy jobs,it has no more credibility
Joe Grech
Jan 13th, 20:10
Diedun:Victor Laiviera was right:"Din l-Art Ħelwa was the only NGO that endorses the Governments plans for the Gateless Gate,the Roofless Theater & Parliament on Stilts." He forgot to say DLH even supported digging a huge quarry to build an underground museum for StJohn Cathedral - when even MEPA said it was a crazy idea!
DLH is jst lapdog to Govt to land cushy jobs,it has no more credibility
Joe Grech
Jan 13th, 20:09
Diedun:Victor Laiviera was right:"Din l-Art Ħelwa was the only NGO that endorses the Governments plans for the Gateless Gate,the Roofless Theater & Parliament on Stilts." He forgot to say DLH even supported digging a huge quarry to build an underground museum for StJohn Cathedral - when even MEPA said it was a crazy idea!
DLH is jst lapdog to Govt to land cushy jobs,it has no more credibility
GL Calleja
Jan 13th, 14:48
Din l'Art Helwa why don't you put your money where your mouth is?Why are you letting the Prestigious and Historical Selmun Palace be sold to a private owner?Air Malta owns this fine piece of history and Air Malta belongs to the Government of Malta.Where are your priorities Din l'Art Helwa? This Historical Selmun Palace belongs to the people of Malta and you should be making sure it stays that way?
Ray Pisani
Jan 13th, 10:21
After voting for Renzo Piano's Gate and approving a gap in Valetta's defences and the Royal Opera shambles
to me DLH have lost all their creditbility - they are now trying to polish their tarnished image.
Guess what - it will not wash off. Valletta is ruined forever and the Maltese have had enough - too little too late DLH. How about DLK?
Carmelo Aquilina
Jan 13th, 02:16
well done - 100% backing to all these proposals
now it is time for the political parties to answer and deliver
Susan Mompalao de Piro
Jan 12th, 18:21
Din l'Art Helwa congratulations on a very practical proposal. The political parties will not be able to ignore this initiative and this will certainly show good results.
pat muscat
Jan 12th, 18:12
'Din l-art helwa' should change its name to 'Din l-art li baqa'...ghax ma baqa xejn bis-sahha ta hekk imsejha riformi tal-Mepa li f'kull elezzjoni jinghataw l-permessi ghal bini barra ODZ!
V Mercieca
Jan 12th, 17:53
I would give "1" to every subject
c s staines
Jan 12th, 15:12
Meet targets for alternative energy and reduction of waste: Please reword with strong emphasis that alternative energy shall be promoted however without further development in 'green' areas. One must be wary of where the recently proposed 'solar farms' backed by both parties are to be sited. We want back our environment for the general enjoyment of the present & future Maltese people!
Joseph Agius
Jan 12th, 14:49
I have a hunch that many GonziPN fans, given the chance, will answer:
But Gonzi PN has been doing all that already, is still doing it, and in the future it will do even more!
I should like to think that other NGOs, who have been more militant than DLH these last five years, will come up with better proposals. NATURE TRUST has shown the way.
A. Sciberras
Jan 12th, 13:44
finally... some sense!
Astrid Vella
Jan 12th, 12:00
Very good initiative. Politicians need to bite the bullet and place the nation's health over the interests of some of their supporters.
Victor Laiviera
Jan 12th, 11:35
Din l-Art Ħelwa was practically the only NGO that endorses the Government's plans for the Gateless Gate, the Roofless Theater and the Parliament on Stilts.
It has no more credibility in environmental matters.
Alan Deidun
Jan 12th, 23:33
Victor, you should remove your partisan blinkers more often and get acquainted with DLH's valuable work over the years for our country's natural, historical and cultural assets.......ENGO's dont lose their credibility overnight with a sector of the electorate just because they dont toe their party's line
Victor Rodenas
Jan 12th, 10:06
...............now it is already too late,....should have spoken before.It is like Cancer,...if you see it too late you can do nothing or very little about it.
Joseph E Briffa
Jan 12th, 10:18
it's never too late........that's a defeatist attitude
Pamela Hansen
Jan 12th, 09:58
What a great initiative. Well done Din l-Art Helwa
Jonathan Camilleri
Jan 12th, 09:43
Natural heritage is a resource which may not be reproducible, therefore politicians and developers should find the right balance between economically feasible projects and projects which limit the damage to the natural environment. I mean, we've heard of people dying of cancer due to polluted air haven't we?
Please choose the reason of your report below: