Rubbish scattered at various points along the Żonqor Point coastline does give the place a shabby image but would this be a good enough reason to turn the area into another Buġibba? Contrary to what property developer Sandro Chetcuti may want to think, it is definitely not.

Would development of the area into a tourist resort be justifiable on grounds that people living in the south deserve to have job opportunities and amenities there similar to those that are found in other localities? This is debatable because the island is far too small to sacrifice more virgin land for development and, in any case, most people do not work where they live.

It is thoughtless people who have made parts of Żonqor Point shabby by dumping rubbish there when they could have disposed of it through the bulk collection service. If the place is cleaned up – and this can be done very easily – it would regain the pristine look it had before. The place deserves to be safeguarded for all but particularly for the people of the south.

Far too many places that ought to have been protected have fallen victim to development. Any ideas to build three hotels and other amenities at Żonqor ought to be shot down. If Joseph Muscat means what he says that there needs to be dialogue with environmentalists to ensure sustainable development for all, his government ought first to rethink its overall development policy.

How can the Prime Minister be taken seriously when plans appear to be in hand to tweak development boundaries? For ‘tweaking’, environmentalists are clearly reading ‘extending’, which is the last thing that this island needs at present if the precious little land that is left is to be preserved.

The Prime Minister would be going back on his own word – he made a firm commitment before the election – were he to allow any extension of the boundaries. In a recent invitation to dialogue, Din l-Art Ħelwa president Simone Mizzi asked Dr Muscat to clarify exactly what his government and its planners intended doing to uphold article 9 of the Constitution, which specifies that the State must safeguard the cultural and natural patrimony of the nation and, specifically, the landscape.

Dr Muscat had an opportunity to clarify the situation publicly when he met the developers at the annual general meeting of the Malta Developers Association but he does not appear to have done so.

Ms Mizzi did not mince words: “Developers know exactly how and where they are going to build, which views, coastline, countryside and trees they are going to pour concrete on. They are the ones writing the rules street by street and field by field.” This is exactly the impression many have of the situation today.

Like Ms Mizzi, many believe the developers have a hold on the government, which is why alarm bells are ringing. Ensuring sustainable development for all, as Dr Muscat has put it, would have to be translated into practice.

This country has made far too many mistakes in terms of land development over the years.

Overdevelopment in some areas, building scars in the countryside and even, in some places right on the coastline, as, for example, in Qawra, are testimony to greed, speculation and outright disregard to a fragile environment.

Would the destruction of the little land that is left on the altar of economic progress be the right thing to do?

Would it not be more profitable in the long term to see how best to preserve what is left without jeopardising economic advancement?

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