In an island that holds the undesirable record of obesity in all European states, having been ridiculed as the European Capital of Obesity, rambling and physical recreation are no longer a privilege but a right and an expectation.
Both political parties are being accused of environmental travesties.
One is the revelation that a Nationalist government in 2008 secretly devolved for private use public land in picturesque Armier with an agreement cast in stone. Such gross misdemeanour on the eve of the election passed unnoticed and a long stretch of foreshore and coastal zone have been lost.
Recently, we realised that our island home is still up for sale when we learned about the lease to a Jordanian entrepreneur of panoramic Żonqor Point for an institute of higher learning. To put such a prime locality on the altar of economic and educational expediency is tantamount to a misdemeanour.
It is high time for such horse-trading with public land to stop. Let us hope that in future sanity will prevail in the interest of our island.To make up for the clawing away of public land, the government should return to the people historical and archaeological sites that in the past were leased to presumed farmers.
I vividly recall the pregnant words of the late renowned anthropologist Jeremy Boissevain at a Business Breakfast in Sliema on March 22, 2006 on the topic ‘Malta: taking stock after 50 years. Where to now?’
At this rate future generations will have to travel abroad to see a wild flower, a butterfly or a honey bee
He cried out: “One problem in particular has struck me most forcefully. This is the massive destruction of the environment since you became independent. Your countryside and architectural heritage, your coastal zone, the sea surrounding you, your underground water supply and the air you breathe, quite literally have been, and still are, being raped… they are being exploited for private gain.”
This apocalyptic reality is still facing us as the subtle nibbling away of our countryside continues unabated, with a dubious villa being built here, an illegal stable there, discreetly hidden tool sheds and illegal wineries.
Who is going to stop the rot? At this rate future generations will have to travel abroad to see a wild flower, a butterfly or a honey bee. The real irony is that our drive to recover that which is lost threatens that little which survives.
The environmental travesties mean that more public virgin land has been nibbled away to the detriment of Maltese citizens and visiting tourists. Our small island cannot afford to lose more countryside and coastal zones.
I urge all political parties to solemnly commit themselves that on no account should ODZ property be developed and no exceptions should be made whether for educational, ecclesiastical, defence or economic reasons. Sadly, in spite of the massive economic progress registered, to the casual outsider our island seems to be descending into chaos.
The unlawful encroachment on government land and the misappropriation of spacium comune are reminiscent of the medieval overlords as far back as 1410, when Spanish noblemen appropriated for themselves public land used for grazing at Mellieħa only for the land to be reluctantly returned after strong protests from the impoverished peasants.
Our only hope of rescuing the natural environment rests with the rising young generation that has already distinguished itself on many fronts in defending our diminishing countryside. In the full realisation that our beloved country, deprived of its unique countryside and coastal zones, would be a very dismal place, the young have rallied to the cause and stood up to be counted.
Our SOS for the natural environment depends on the realisation that our countryside, which is so generously blessed with great natural beauty enriched by cultural, historical and archaeological heritage, needs to sustained with a spiritual regeneration in the form of genuine love of country.
Of course these are the delights of the compulsive rambler roaming freely in our countryside with the welcome addition of a healthy lifestyle and the feel-good factor.
Nostalgically, I hope that our islands will continue to offer the thrills of the unexpected in the form of an ancient girna (corbelled hut), prehistoric cart-ruts, vernacular art like “a soul in purgatory”, notarial deeds fixed to rural walls and small niches as well as the peace and quiet in the shrinking areas available for wilderness rambling, such as Ras il-Pellegrin and Binġemma Heights in Malta and the Ras il-Wardija and the San Dimitri areas in Gozo. These remote sites provide the consolation of a benign rural setting and spiritual enjoyment far from the madding crowd.
For the past three decades the Maltese countryside has been littered with a sickening number of rude notices and warnings most of which unauthorised: Riservato; Keep Out; Beware of the Dog; Danger; Private Property. Very often access to the foreshore and cliff sides is barred even when the pathways are undeniably public. Obstruction in the form of concrete bollards, rusty oil drums, unauthorised gates and sometimes barbed wire are all too common, making a mockery of this sweet land of ours (Din l-Art Ħelwa.)
But how could one know whether a pathway is public or not since Malta is the only country in Europe with no definitive map of the islands indicating which pathways are public or private?
Is the presumed owner of the pathway legally expected to prove right of ownership? If there is proof of ownership, then the permit number should be fixed to any barrier that is obstructing our pathways.
Due to various issues, the enjoyment of our countryside and coastal zone is very often seriously impaired, with a negative impact on the local rambler and impinging on the tourists. Some were recently turned away from Qlejgħa tal-Baħrija, described by the world renowned historian and archaeologist David Trump as having “the most marvellous panoramic views in the Maltese islands”, and from Ras il- Wardija in Gozo, another panoramic site.
One is inclined to ask: are not these sites part of our national patrimony and why are they still leased to private hands?
A few years ago, I had researched the ownership of Ras ir-Raheb, in the limits of Baħrija, an iconic site rich in prehistoric, Roman and medieval remains, only to discover that this remote promontory was expropriated by the government in 1975 but surprisingly is still in the private domain.
Fully conscious of this ever-deteriorating situation, the Ramblers’ Association of Malta has for the last decade been submitting its recommendations to the competent authorities perfectly in line with those outlined by the defunct National Commission for Sustainable Development 2006-2016, which states inter alia that measures must be taken to make access to the coastal zone possible, whether the land is private or government owned.
The document also laid down that places which combine leisure with enjoyment of the natural environment could be a source of improved health and, therefore, accessibility to such places should be improved.
This important document underlines both the desirability that footpaths are identified aas well as the need for any false claims to land titles to be seriously examined in the presence of registered NGOs. It further demands that “paths that are abusively closed to the public should be opened”.
These recommendation were fully approved by acclamation and the Ramblers’ Association has for years been urging their implementation.
This is the way forward.
Lino Bugeja is the honorary president of the Ramblers’ Association of Malta.