Not exactly Malta tagħna lkoll

Despite adopting one of the main mantras bandied around during the last election as the heading of this column, a proviso is in order – this is not being done for partisan purposes. It is motivated by recent events at two of Malta’s most idyllic areas...

Ta’ Baldu and Simblija mark the increasing privatisation of our national heritage, with the oldest oak trees on the islands at Wardija also being out of bounds to the public

Il-Kantra is a small peninsula jutting out on one side of Mġarr ix-Xini, with Fessej Rock and the Comino Channel as a backdrop.

Although the place is private, falling within the precincts of the gargantuan property stretching from Ta’ Ċenc Hotel, up to a few months ago public access to the foreshore was not denied. Recently, a gate was set up, legally, such that access to the Kantra was only granted to the hotel residents. Anyone protesting about this is referred to the Ta’ Cenc Hotel owner.

The Kantra is also cherished by several scuba diving clubs, especially during days characterised by an inclement north-westerly wind. It transpires that only one scuba diving club is being allowed through the gate to dive off the Kantra.

The case revives memories of the Fomm ir-Riħ saga, where access to the foreshore through private land has been advocated by the Ramblers Association for years. While respecting the private use of the Kantra, the authorities should also guarantee a public path passing through the peninsula leading down to the sea.

Yet another emblematic site which has recently been cordoned off is the historic Simblija site, limits of Dingli. The medieval site, whose most recent structures date back to 1718-1720 and which includes a cluster of houses and a mediaeval chapel known as Santa Marija ta’ Callus, merits national heritage status in view of its historic significance.

After the recent discovery of the chapel, the authorities even installed explanatory maps and information panels in perspex, which have duly disappeared in recent months. Neither the Rabat or Dingli local councils, nor the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage had anything to report regarding the disappearance of this publicly-funded material.

To add insult to injury, public access to this historic area is subject to the whims of an individual who acts as a vigilate over the site and who says that his ownership of the whole area entitles him to close off public access to the site.

The same situation is also encountered at Ta’ Baldu Valley, where public access is again denied.

Public access issues at the two sites have been painstakingly taken up with the authorities by the Ramblers Association, but with very little results, despite the NGO’s perseverance.

The authorities should ensure public access to these significant sites whose national heritage importance cannot be overestimated. Ta’ Baldu and Simblija mark the increasing privatisation of our national heritage, with the oldest oak trees on the islands at Wardija also being out of bounds to the public.

Massive burning of olive trees at Għaxaq

After the outcry understandably generated in the media each time mature trees in Malta are desecrated, except when this is perpetrated by landscaping consortia, one would have thought such a practice is a thing of the past. So it is hard to fathom why the burning of close to 100 mature olive trees at Għaxaq has eluded media limelight for so long.

Despite the trees being burned last summer and despite the charred patch not exactly lying in a backwater but in the upper reaches of the Wied Dalam, quite close to the village of Għaxaq, along a stretch of paved road used by cars, no one flagged this despicable event in the media.

The area in question, known as Ix-Xagħra ta’ Ħal-Għaxaq, is, in fact, cherished by the people of Għaxaq primarily for walks and outdoor recreation. How did this act of environmental vandalism, on such a massive scale, elude detection for so long?

How can anyone jog or walk or drive past such a desecration and not raise the alarm? It seems that sometimes it is convenient to look elsewhere.

Some of the charred olive trees are trying to regenerate, although it will obviously take years for them to regain their past glory.

When will it be Golden Bay’s turn?

The list of beaches awarded the Blue Flag status in Malta is to be released later this month but Golden Bay will yet again been left with cold feet – it again missed out on the coveted Blue Flag status and has been assigned the inferior Beach of Quality category.

For those not conversant with the 10-year-old saga concerning the internet cafe at Golden Bay, the mind boggles as to why one of Malta’s prime beaches is not automatically awarded Blue Flag status, while beaches like the perched sandy one at Buġibba and the rocky one at Qawra are.

It is, in fact, inconceivable how private interests (that is, of the operators of the internet cafe plonked in the middle of the protected sand dune remnants at Golden Bay) trump over the public interest. How important is the internet cafe and its amenities for authorities to gladly sacrifice a Blue Flag status for Golden Bay?

This sorry state of affairs is perhaps allowed to perpetuate by the public as few grasp the touristic and economic implications of having Golden Bay being declared a Blue Flag beach. One hopes that local environmental authorities finally take this long-standing bull by the horns so that this glaring anomaly is corrected once and for all – Golden Bay deserves to be a Blue Flag beach.

‘Oh, it’s only some dry grass on fire’

The decision to extend this year’s annual fireworks festival to Għajn Tuffieħa has proven to be a short-sighted one indeed. Despite assurances by the Malta Tourism Authority that fireworks were let off from outside the Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and that the whole event was monitored throughout, with fire engines being on standby, fires along the clay slopes did break out.

Online fireworks aficionados and the MTA were quick to snuff out criticism of the decision by saying the fires posed no real threat to humans or properties. This is of little solace to those who saw large swathes of steppe and wild flora being burnt.

The MTA supposedly promotes all facets of tourism in this country – does it genuinely believe it is promoting ecotourism when it paves the way for large swathes of natural vegetation to be burnt along one of the most scenic stretches of coastline on our islands? The deployment of cleaners by the MTA to clear the firing spot of any debris is of little solace to those aggrieved by the burning of wild vegetation.

Any how did the Malta Environment and Planning Authority give the event the green light when it normally raises all sorts of objections to any form of human activity in SACs?

Two environmental doyens pass away

The recent passing away of Nenu Aquilina and Fr Eric Overend are a double blow for the local environmental movement.

Aquilina was the former mayor of Siġġiewi who regularly stood up to construction tycoons such as Charles Polidano over the illegal developments at Ħal-Farruġ.

He was also instrumental in forging an alliance between five local councils to oppose the infamous cement batching plant in the early 1990s.

Fr Overend was one of the main catalysts behind the Church’s Environmental Commission, which in recent years set the pace in terms of environmental advocacy in this country.

May both rest in peace.