The hunting federation has resumed its boycott of the Ornis Committee until this stops being a “rubber-stamping body”.

We were presented with a fait accompli

The general secretary of the Federation for Hunting and Conservation (FKNK), Lino Farrugia, said the government’s hunting advisory committee was being presented with decisions that had already been taken.

The committee, he said, should be respected, allowed to work constructively and transparently, and not used by the government at its convenience.

The federation did not attend yesterday’s meeting of Ornis. The boycott had already been in force since November but was temporarily suspended when the committee was discussing the spring hunting season which has just come to an end.

“Even on this occasion, although we attended, we were presented with another fait accompli and the exercise and discussion was a waste of time, not only for us but for everyone else,” said Mr Farrugia.

The agenda of yesterday’s meeting included a discussion on a legal notice to restrict hunting and trapping at Ix-Xagħra l-Ħamra at the Majjistral Park, near Għajn Tuffieħa.

Mr Farrugia said the federation had discussed this notice, which has already been printed, around two years ago with Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino “and now they want the Ornis Committee to rubber-stamp it”.

“This proposed legislation is unfair and discriminatory with hunters and trappers and could create a very dangerous precedent for hunting and trapping practices in general. Such a situation could not continue to be tolerated,” he said.