The developers’ chief, Sandro Chetcuti, has taken to making impassioned pleas for people to stop stereotyping the developers lobby as the bad guys. A few months ago on television on Times Talk he had insisted that they love the countryside “more than environmentalists”. Well maybe, but quite possibly for different reasons.
We all have to live with some generalisations as they simplify our world. Unfortunately social categories sometimes deteriorate into prejudices. Negative stereotypes are more common than positive ones, and it is good to constantly challenge them.
‘Resident of the south,’ for example, seems to be evolving into a special badge or identity. I have never heard anyone publicise that they come from the north or west or east of Malta, but only the south.
We now even have a national Consultative Council for the South, headed by the MP Silvio Parnis. Not much is heard from this council, although naturally that does not mean that they are inactive.
The latest news was that five committee members resigned in the last 12 months, all for personal reasons.
Among its initiatives, the Council for the South has been linked to controversial plans for the construction of three hotels along the undeveloped coast near Żonqor Point, as well as backing a proposal for an old people’s home which will destroy a large tract of countryside near Santa Luċija.
I don’t see why oldpeople should be encouraged to live outside towns and villages in the first place. I think it is more advantageous for them to live as closely integrated within the community as possible, in a place where it is easier for them to get around and be relatively independent, and for family and friends to pop in and visit.
Senior citizens are better off living in a walkable neighbourhood, with some shops and activity around. It is very sad for the elderly to feel isolated. Living off the beaten track, which is time-consuming for visitors to get to, only makes this worse.
The truth is that land outside the development zone is cheaper, and building a residential home with a supposed ‘community purpose’ is a good excuse for granting a building permit in the countryside.
Once you think about it, the special identity of the south is all not that easy to pinpoint. It is true, of course, that large waste and energy facilities are located in the south, together with the Freeport.
Some good news in the south is the announcement that the ‘31st March 1979’ petroleum depot site at Birżebbuġa will be dismantled. The beginnings of this depot date back to the 1920s. As in the case of the Freeport and the Sant’Antnin waste treatment facility at Marsascala, unfortunately houses continued to be built in the vicinity when the site was already designated for industrial use.
The depot has therefore grown into a serious problem for its neighbours. It poses a safety hazard and is not up to the required EU standards. It will be replaced by extending the Ħas-Saptan fuel storage facility just up the main road.
Don’t miss your chance to vote this Saturday in the first abrogative referendum in Malta’s history. I will be voting ‘No’
This idea was already proposed in 2004, so let’s see if it will materialise this time. The fuel dolphin in the middle of Marsaxlokk Bay, which feeds the underground tanks at Ħas-Saptan, will also need redesigning due to its proximity to the floating gas storage tanker of the new power station.
It is understandable that all this industrial activity can be tough to live with. On the other hand, from a holistic point of view, it does make sense to gather industry into one area rather than spread it all around.
This makes it even harder to see why the Council for the South might be willing to consider losing any remaining spaces of green countryside or open coastline to develop residential homes or hotels that can be accommodated elsewhere.
Like the developers, hunters also say that they love the countryside more than anyone. With all this abundance of love for the countryside from all sides, how is it constantly shrinking and deteriorating?
And like the developers, our hunters also want to persuade people that they are not all bad guys. They want to move away from being depicted as law-breaking bullies who lurk in ghastly hides all over the countryside and terrorise people who are just out for a walk to enjoy the scenery.
They are trying so hard to change their image that they don’t even feature on their own billboards, staying out of view behind attractive young models posing with children in the idyllic landscape.
People who speak out to protect biodiversity and the countryside are quite used to being stereotyped. They are wrongly accused of opposing the laying of each stone and every grain of cement. They are mocked as being the friends of lizards and worms.
Yet unlike the hunters, those supporting and campaigning for a ‘No’ vote in the spring hunting referendum next week are showing their own faces and voices, and are not hiding behind anything.
Don’t miss your chance to vote this Saturday in the first abrogative referendum in Malta’s history. I will be voting ‘No’.
I wish you all a Happy Easter.
petracdingli@gmail.com