The Malta Tourism Authority did not carry out an environmental impact assessment before starting the “upgrade” of seven kiosks at Għadira Bay, because the interventions merely replaced the existing structures, according to the authority.
Subjecting facilities and their location to an EIA is one of the conditions on which beaches are judged before being awarded the Blue Flag certificate, a yearly award based on strict environmental criteria. Għadira was among nine Maltese beaches to have Blue Flag status in 2014.
Asked whether it had performed an EIA on the site, the MTA said the initiative to replace the existing kiosks was four years old and the idea was to clad them in timber for a uniform look.
An agreement was reached in 2012 between the government and stakeholders, so these are not new kiosks but replacements for existing ones, the MTA said.
“No intervention on ‘new’ ground is being allowed and each operator has to follow a method statement and a number of conditions imposed by the Environment Protection Directorate within Mepa, issued as part of the planning process.” It said the process did not result in the requirement to carry out a full EIA.
“One should not forget that one of the objectives of beach management is to upgrade the product and ensure that all facilities operate in line with the law.”
Implementation of the initiative will be monitored, it added.
Yet, some of the kiosks in question had enforcement notices for infringements replaced by permits. A hole was also dug in the sand and concrete poured into it to serve as a platform for one of the kiosks.
The planning authority had given assurances that the works were being carried out in accordance with a method statement assessed and endorsed by the Environment Protection Directorate.
Mepa is going against the Aarhus Convention which establishes right to receive information
Asked for a copy of the assessment, Mepa had said these assessments were internal documents “that are not available to the public”.
President of Din l-Art Ħelwa Simone Mizzi said the NGO was “shocked” by Mepa’s refusal to grant the media information on assessments justifying the development, as was reported by The Sunday Times of Malta.
“Mepa is going completely against the Aarhus Convention which establishes the right of everyone to receive environmental information held by public authorities.”
The decision to fast track such a development, waved through by means of a simple Development Notification Order (DNO), was yet another example of the shortcuts which have rendered Mepa a “rubber stamp for development”, the NGO said.
Facilitating the pouring of concrete directly on to the sand was “totally unacceptable” and would eventually lead to further degradation of the beach.
The rushing through of such developments so close to summer also signified political promises made to kiosk owners, it said.
The Blue Flag certification, earned with so much effort by the Malta Tourism Authority, was now in danger of being lost.
Blue Flag International has written to its local representative, Nature Trust, requesting a report on the impact of the concrete base on the coast, the sand dunes and the ecology.
Nature Trust president Vince Attard said it has now commissioned an independent expert to establish whether there were any irregularities in the way the kiosks were being upgraded.
“The expert will be looking at two main criteria: at the potential environmental damage and at the reason why not much public information is being given,” Mr Attard said.
Ultimately, it must be established whether the works would improve the beach or have a negative impact.
The report, he added, should be completed within two weeks and be used to determine whether the bay will be awarded its Blue Flag status between June and September.
Pouring cement, Mr Attard noted, caused much more damage than pre-cast concrete slabs, which could easily be placed and removed.