Columnist Mark Anthony Falzon’s exposé (June 17) on the causes and costs of over-development in Malta made a good read but he overlooked a few details.
The intangible costs of development on steroids are clear for all- Nicky Bianchi, Lija
The rape of Sliema involved all our politicians much more intimately than tending to the chore of party financing. Their persistent failure, until quite recently, to address the blatant injustices perpetuated by our rent laws led inexorably to the destruction of the picturesque terraced houses along the Sliema front and gradually spread up the side streets.
Many of these houses were occupied by Maltese tenants paying ridiculously low rents. Most tenants were glad to trade in their secure tenancy, which could disappear with the stroke of a politician’s pen, for the absolute freehold of two apartments.
Many owners, despairing at the patent injustice of the system, gave up their grossly devalued ownership rights for one freehold apartment. This was the absurd reality of the small home owner on whom Prof. Falzon pins part of the blame for the destruction of Sliema.
The intangible costs of development on steroids are clear for all to see. I suggest that the feelings of loss and impermanence caused by the rapid destruction of the environment in which we grew up have much more serious consequences than nostalgia and nervousness. We are hacking away at our roots, leaving many Maltese without a sense of belonging and with no stake or interest in any aspect of our society and cultural heritage.
The indifference of many to the landscape in which we all live is clearly demonstrated by their attitude to trees, which take decades to grow to maturity. Pruning is a fine art, starting with the removal of dead wood, then the removal of inward-directed and crossing branches and ending with the overall shaping of the tree. Clean, sharp tools should be used and open wounds should be sealed to limit the loss of tree sap.
What we see in our streets is not pruning. A chain-saw is used to lop off all branches leaving just the main trunk, sometimes with a ridiculous, tiny pom-pom on the top. This sort of thing is done in Third World countries as a way of harvesting timber for firewood. Surely, we’re not that desperate for firewood in Malta. The feelings of loss and impermanence which this brings about are poignantly portrayed in Victor Fenech’s poem Iż-żabra.
I would add a fourth cost to Prof. Falzon’s list. Our towns and villages are riddled with apartments and showrooms in shell form, each waiting for the right moment to move on to completion. This cancer is blighting our urban landscape. Developers should be free to do as they please internally but new buildings should be finished externally.