'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

	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	Reverse the culture on trees: Trees are not an expendable commodity, nor are they a public nuisance. Please protect green lungs in urban areas.
	Stop illegal hunting: especially in park land areas like the Majistral Heritage and Nature National Park
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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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