Joseph Muscat’s government is laying the foundation stone for what could eventually lead to the destruction of one of the few remaining stretches of virgin coastal areas.
In deciding to allow the building of part of a new university at Żonqor, the government is nailing its colours to the mast, sacrificing land in an outside development zone for part of a university that can very well be sited in another location without damaging the environment.
The reduction of the footprint from 90,000 square metres to 18,000 square metres is being projected by the government as a compromise solution or, as Dr Muscat described it on Sunday, as a fair decision. The Prime Minister and his government may well consider it as a compromise but in the eyes of environmentalists it is not. Neither is it fair.
There should not be compromises where matters concerning the national environment are concerned, unless the land is required in the national interest. And even then it should only be given over when it is ascertained that there are no suitable alternative sites. In this case, the issue could have been settled differently by utilising any of the sites suggested by those who have the environment at heart.
Every inch of virgin land in outside development zones that is taken up capriciously is an inch that will be lost for ever. The chasm that exists between the environmentalists and the government over the importance of preserving the little virgin land that still exists is far too wide as yet to be bridged by the kind of frivolous talk resorted to by Dr Muscat.
The government is now eager to put the message across that it has scaled down the Żonqor footprint after taking note of the protests of the environment lobby when, had it really cared for the environment, it would not even have dreamt of giving up any part of Żonqor in the first place.
None of the reasons given so far is strong enough to justify nibbling away part of a virgin coastal area. Which is why Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar is well justified in speculating that the investors may have wanted a seafront location at all costs. But, as it well points out, why should an academic institution find it so important to have a sea view for its building?
At one time, Dr Muscat was reported saying that, while it would have been possible to avoid ODZ land altogether, this would have necessitated the development of the ecologically sensitive foreshore. Why?
On the basis of this argument, it is true then, as Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar has said, that the investors may have asked for a sea view. This begs another question: what else have the investors asked for? Needless to say, the government’s decision to allow the use of part of Żonqor has also been found unacceptable by the front that has generated so much new awareness of the importance of preserving virgin land – Front Ħelsien ODZ. What is holding the government from publishing the agreement reached with the investors?
In justification of its actions, the government keeps bringing up the failures of the previous administration, but the people are aware of past environmental gaffes. Labour would have allowed the disfigurement of Żonqor had it not been stopped by the environment lobby. Reducing the footprint may appease the conscience of government supporters but it is not a win-win situation, either for the south or, even less so, for Malta.
Dr Muscat is wrong if he thinks he has put an end to the controversy. There is still time to revise the project.