While Malta was lamenting the loss of the Azure Window, the four cabinet ministers that joined in to express sadness at the collapse of the iconic landmark in Dwejra appeared to have blissfully forgotten the indifferent manner in which their government is considering the preservation of the natural environment. The irony of it all is hard to fathom, more so when one of the ministers in the line-up was none other than the environment minister.

Are not these ministers members of the same government that did not think twice before granting a stretch of land of pristine coastline at Żonqor to Jordanian investors for the building of a university? For double standards, it is hard to beat the government. The environment minister, Jose Herrera, is reported to have said when expressing sadness at the loss of the window: “What nature created, it took away.”

Elsewhere in the country, it is not nature that is taking away the island’s heritage, but man, and the people who are supposed to act as guardians of such heritage are not only not being alert enough to protect what little has remained, but they are proving to be among the protagonists, directly or indirectly, in the rape of the environment.

In the case of Żonqor, over which there has been an endless controversy as well as street protests, it is the government itself that is the culprit. Under strong pressure from environment lobbies, it relented and trimmed off a bit of the land given to the Jordanian investors, but if the investors were to go on with their project there, that part of the coastline would still be ruined.

The four ministers said the window had formed only a small part of the ecological importance of the Dwejra area, giving the impression that the surrounding site was kept in tip-top condition. This is far from having been the case. The Inland Sea area, particularly behind the huts, is a ramshackle plot, giving visitors, especially divers from northern countries, reason to comment upon ­– negatively, of course. Yet, this is another jewel that can easily deteriorate even further if it is not taken care of.

In the countryside, where there are still considerable stretches worth preserving, the story is equally sad and it is getting sadder by the day as many encroach on land that is not theirs, block access to pathways that had long been accessible, and add or build new extensions to existing structures without the slightest care to the environment.

Remember the time, not so long ago, when farmers used empty oil drums as borders to their fields? Thankfully, this has now been made illegal but there are those who would not think twice to build brick walls to protect their fields. Horrendous is not strong enough a word to describe their action.

Building outside development zones has been described by Lino Bugeja, a top environmentalist who passed away only recently, as “the greatest siege Malta has ever faced, greater than that of 400 years ago”.

Many urban areas are being disfigured, and town houses decapitated. Even greater threats to the environment, and particularly to the skyline, are on the way if all the plans for the building of high rises were to be approved.

Much of the island’s old charm has been lost by the onset of new developments and the talk now is to turn Malta into another Dubai.

It is unrealistic to expect that time stands still but would it not be nicer if Malta were to preserve its remaining national characteristics?

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