For a time, Joseph Muscat wanted the country to bail him out of a problem he had unnecessarily created when his government agreed to sacrifice precious virgin land at Żonqor Point in Marsascala for a private university.
When he realised that his government’s haphazard scheme had met with stern opposition, he asked for proposals for alternative sites.
However, he chose to put himself in a straitjacket when he said that an acceptable site would have to be in the south. He is now saying the university could be spread over a number of sites in the south rather than one location at Żonqor Point.
In truth, the government has discredited itself in so far as the protection of the environment is concerned. Instead of doing all it can to protect every inch of the little virgin land that remains, it gives the impression that it is there for the taking so long as it yields economic benefits.
Luckily for the country, the environmental lobby is now growing so rapidly that it is most likely to become the strongest force to reckon with at the next general election.
This is why Dr Muscat, realising the mistake (his preferred word for every howler made since his government took office), chose to pass the buck to the country.
Offering the development of a natural park when the land is already there for public enjoyment jarred so much that people disdainfully dismissed it out of hand. If parts of Żonqor Point are neglected and strewn with rubbish, it is only because it has been allowed to fall into this state by successive governments.
It looks as if this prime coastal stretch has now fallen straight into the developers’ sights. It was only a short while ago that the country shot down ideas for the building of three hotels there. The arguments used then are practically the same as Dr Muscat is using today for the building of a university – that the south deserves to share in the country’s wealth.
Żonqor is the south’s jewel, and no amount of talk about the economic benefits resulting from development can possibly justify its destruction.
Making such distinctions between the north and south in an island less than the average size of a town in Europe does not make sense.
Do people living in the north all work in the north? No. And people in the south have cars, so they can travel to their place of work wherever it happens to be.
Does the business the university could generate, through the students’ stay and through their parents’ visits, justify the destruction of virgin land? Will all the cleaners’ jobs that will be required once the university is set up all be reserved for people of the south? If so, won’t this be a gross insult to the people of the south?
Perhaps the greatest irony of all is that the preferred site has Mepa’s blessing, the organisation that ought to act as guardian of the little that is left of the natural environment.
The national heritage organisation Din l-Art Ħelwa is right in calling the choice of site a sham. In light of the huge opposition to the proposal, the government ought to try and find an acceptable site itself.
Dr Muscat and his ministers have been trusted with the administration of the country to govern wisely, not to sacrifice a certain quality of life that is fast diminishing.