As a young Jesuit in formation and a medical doctor, I am writing to register my concern and alarm about the plans to build a shooting range adjacent to Mount St Joseph Retreat House in Mosta.

Apart from being a retreat house that caters to a vast array of people from all walks of life – religious and non-religious, Maltese and non-Maltese – it is an oasis of peace, tranquillity and prayer in a country that becomes progressively more noisy and polluted.

As Marija Farrugia asserts in her opinion piece, ‘No peace within range’, multiple studies have demonstrated that noise pollution and heavily-urbanised landscapes are directly related to significant mental and physical health problems, particularly in the case of more vulnerable populations.

The idea of building a shooting range right next door to Mount St Joseph is short-sighted, to say the least, because it will deprive Malta of one of those few structures that cater specifically to those who seek silence. There is also a deeper principle at stake. Malta is not ours. It belongs to those who will live here when we are gone: simply put, we are merely the custodians of creation and not its masters.

We have a responsibility before God and, in consequence, before one another, to take care of what has been handed down to us.

Taking care of our environment is, therefore, taking care of our health. I would add – off the cuff – that more money would most probably be saved through reducing healthcare costs then would be gained from being subjected to more building and dust and noise.

The rights of one group of individuals are limited once they impinge on the rights of another group of people.

I would appeal to the authorities and those involved: stop the building of the shooting range in Mosta. Stop construction beyond reasonable need. Stop the further degradation of our environment.