The Marsascala local council was recently faced with an ingenious proposal to consider: what if the government bought the land occupied by the derelict Jerma Hotel and gave it back to the public as an open space to enjoy? Nationalist councillor Charlot Cassar moved a motion to that effect, seconded by Labour deputy mayor, Desiree Attard. Ms Attard could not attend the meeting and the motion was defeated by the Labour majority.

The site is due to be sold by court order next month. Whether the government would have listened to the council and forked out an estimated €20 million to buy the prime site the size of five and a half football pitches is another matter. But the very idea of giving back land to the public runs counter to current building trends, most especially the high-rise projects threatening the Maltese skyline and the overdevelopment of areas like Sliema and St Julian’s.

The proposal, even if just posed philosophically, was a reversal of the building greed that is all around to see and a breath of fresh air, in every sense. Mr Cassar had written in this news­paper prior to the vote: “Should the government heed this appeal, it will be one tiny step back from enveloping our islands in dust and concrete.”

A tiny step and, possibly, the first step.

The area around the Jerma site is covered with saltpans and characterised by a ragged shoreline. It is an ideal place to take a quiet walk in the evenings, something that has become increasingly difficult to do. The growing Marsascala community, which has long bid goodbye to the fishing village that once stood there, could only benefit from such a project. The mayor, however, has other plans.

Mario Cassar believes and, no doubt, he is supported by the business community on this, that the reconstruction of the hotel would boost local shops and restaurants, which had been negatively affected when the Jerma closed down. The mayor also supports the controversial Sadeen international instituteproject at Żonqor Point on the other side of the bay.

His policy choice is clear. He wants a bigger slice of the growing tourist cake. He rightfully wants to see the Marsa­scala business community thrive. But he is also running the risk of turning Marsascala into another Buġibba. It is a difficult balancing act and it is not easy to say no to development when the going is good.

As the Maltese economy continues to speed ahead, with the boom in the building and the rental markets, it sometimes becomes necessary to stop and think about where the country is heading. The strain of development on the country’s built and natural environment is there for all to see. The quality of life is not necessarily improving for people in general, although some are making good money. Everything appears to be for short-term gain. There will be a price to pay for that in the future as the country becomes more crowded and open space more scarce.

Interfering in the free market is not advisable but selective interventions for the common good, like the one suggested for Marsascala, is something the government should seriously consider. Stopping environmental harm through correctly applied policies is good but compensating the public would be even better.

Clawing back the land take-up, reversing past mistakes and implementing a national biodiversity strategy are among the long-term measures that could be taken to make the islands’ development sustainable. It involves some tough decisions and costs.

The economy, at this point in time, can afford it.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.