If, as Joseph Muscat is saying, there are “common sense” solutions to the problem his government has created when it proposed to allow the building of a university on virgin land at Żonqor, did he not explore these “solutions” earlier?
The obvious answer is he did not, thinking perhaps the government could go ahead with giving its blessing to the project without raising any public protest. Actually, as Alessandro Manzoni would have immediately remarked, it is good sense, rather than common sense, that is required.
The Prime Minister says his government is taking note of the environment lobby’s protests but the facts show it is not reading the signs of the times. If it had really been predisposed to listen, it would have reacted differently to the protest the environment organisations held in Valletta on Saturday against development outside development zones.
This is the second time the environment lobby has landed a blow in the space of just three months.
The first was the strong reaction against spring hunting in the March referendum. The environment lobby may not have won the day but when almost half the number of those who voted said No to the killing of birds in spring the message that emerged was loud and clear: the national environment lobby is taking strong roots.
The proposal to destroy part of one of the finest open spaces left has triggered such an outcry that it spawned the setting up of yet another environment lobby, Front Ħarsien ODZ.
Dr Muscat seems to be pinning the need to allow the building of the university at Żonqor on economic grounds, pointing out that the government also had to listen to those who want to see further economic development, as if those against the Żonqor development are against economic progress. Dr Muscat’s argument would only make sense if investors interested in building a university in Malta specifically want to have it at Żonqor, which is unlikely.
It is Dr Muscat who has been insisting all along that he wants to have the university built at Żonqor in order to give the area an economic boost. He is making it sound as if the island’s economy will stand or fall on the building of the university.
Of course, Malta needs to keep drawing new foreign direct investment if it wants to continue stepping up the rhythm of its economic growth. Who in his right senses is against this? But a balance has to be struck to ensure that the quality of life does not suffer, at least unnecessarily.
The government very clearly gives the impression that it’s not interested in striking this balance if it continues to argue in favour of the destruction of part of Żonqor, or of any other land outside development zone for that matter. The university can be built elsewhere, and it does not necessarily have to be in the south.
Dr Muscat appears eager to transmit the message that his government does not shirk decisions. No one is expecting it to but surely it is better to take the right decisions than have to retract wrong ones. That is the kernel of the argument.
The environment lobby is telling the government that the few remaining open spaces are too precious to be built upon and also that economic progress can still continue to be ensured if it wisely seeks ways and means of promoting further development without eroding people’s quality of life. That is precisely why it is so essential that what is left of the natural environment is preserved.