Malta’s environment cannot be saved unless there is a strong political will, which was generally lacking for 50 years, according to Martin Scicluna from environmental NGO Din l-Art Ħelwa.

The lack of political will was particularly evident in weak efforts to enforce the laws that protect the environment by reigning in overdevelopment.

“In Malta, the inability and, most notably, the lack of political will exercised by successive governments to enforce the law on the environment has been appalling,” he said.

“It was characterised by a lack of enforcement resources and too great a willingness to turn a blind eye to powerful lobby groups, such as bird hunters, boathouse owners and the construction industry, for fear of losing their votes.”

Mr Scicluna, a former government consultant, was delivering a lecture entitled 50 Years of Planning Abuse: Look Around You and Weep, organised by Din l-Art Ħelwa.

Environment lovers would be watching the Labour government carefully, he said, “possibly with some trepidation”.

“Plans for Gozo and Ħondoq ir-Rummien. Plans to split environment and the planning roles. Plans for land reclamation. A feeling perhaps that promises have been made to the development lobby which have yet to be cashed in. Plans for changes in processing applications by the planning authority. We must be vigilant,” Mr Scicluna said.

He started his lecture by mapping out the history of overdevelopment in Malta, which he described as “something akin to the Wild West”.

It all started when, in the early 1960s, the run-down of the British Armed Services in Malta began.

This meant Malta had to find ways of diversifying its economy – giving rise to today’s construction and tourism industries.

With no planning regulations in place, buildings started to mushroom in uncontrolled ways. Aware of the threat to Malta’s environment, Din l-Art Ħelwa was set up in 1965 to fight for the island’s national heritage.

Along the years, there were attempts at regulating the field but the laws remained weak – leading to overdevelopment that encroached on the countryside and even on to fortifications and resulting in thousands of empty buildings.

Then there was the political abuse when “the fate of planning permits and the environment was largely in the hands of the relevant minister… who tended, in most cases, to wield that power as though Maltese land was his personal fiefdom,” he said.

Eventually, after the first structure plan was completed in 1990, the Malta Planning Authority was set up in 1992.

While matters improved significantly, “the construction development juggernaut rolled on unabated”.

Politicians, of both major parties, “were beholden to the construction industry” and people put in key roles were “carefully picked so as not to rock the political boat”.

Just before the 2008 general election, when various examples of planning abuse were uncovered, the public dissatisfaction was voiced and the term “environmental deficit” coined.

When elected to government that year, the Nationalist Party embarked on a review of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority and political interference decreased.

Returning to the subject of political will, Mr Scicluna said: “Proper planning involves hard choices and sometimes very hard decisions. The exercise of political will is absolutely vital to the success of any venture in government.

“But when it comes to the environment and heritage, it is absolutely crucial.”

Five lessons learnt

• Need for a firm and comprehensive legislative framework to safeguard, guide and regulate the impacts of humans on the natural environment and their quality of life.

• Need for enforcement and education as keys to improvement.

• Need to ensure that the machinery of government works efficiently. There is a need for an over-arching plan to bring all elements of government together – economic, social and environmental.

• Need to embrace the concept of sustainability and the creation of a National Plan for Sustainable Development.

• Need to have a strong political will.