The protection and preservation of our natural environment, which includes the countryside, coastal zones, as well as our urban and rural heritage, is the responsibility of more than a single entity.
… our undeniable right to walk in open country is under continual threat…- Lino Bugeja
The main stakeholders are of course the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (Mepa) and the Lands Department in conjunction with Heritage Malta, the local councils and the active participation of all green NGOs. There is no doubt that enforcement action by Mepa has intensified since its reform last year particularly with their €4.9 million project to boost environmental monitoring and protection.
It is well to record that recently Mepa, in conjunction with PARKS in its clean-up campaign, removed 6,812 objects from the countryside, 75 per cent of which were rusty oil drums all collected from outside development areas (ODZ); and this in a country that has the best refuse collection system in the world.
Unfortunately, in the past, environmental education had been given scant attention in our schools and it is only recently that this important topic has been introduced with outstanding success thanks to the enthusiastic support of the teachers. Education like forestry takes time to show results; however future generations of children will undoubtedly be more sensitive to the natural environment
Understandably if we persist at this rate of encroachment and development and continue nibbling at the few green areas, there will be little, if any, for our children to preserve and protect. At this stage it should be emphasised that the protection and preservation of the rural environment do not rest solely on Mepa.
In a small island like Malta, the least encroachment on the countryside spells disaster, leading to an accelerated wasteland of concrete jungle. In this respect the noble words of the English poet John Dunne (1572-1631) relate to our situation. “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod is washed away by the sea Europe is the lessee; as well as if a promontory were; as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine were”. Yes, if a piece of public land is lost to development the whole of the Maltese archipelago is the loser. In this regard Mepa has solemnly promised to exert a policy of zero tolerance on ODZ in spite of all the pressures from various quarters. At this point in time the perennial issue of unlawful encroachment on government land and the misappropriation of spacium comune have reared their head again. This issue reminds me that the earliest known grievances of the Maltese dates as far back as 1410 when noblemen, well-placed individuals or “the king’s men” appropriated themselves of public land. Very often the petitions of the inarticulate poor Maltese citizens were acceded to and the misappropriated land was grudgingly restored to them. Six hundred years have passed and today the unauthorised dispossession of land has reached alarming proportions.
The Ramblers’ Association of Malta has made several representations to the Lands Department to rectify this alarming situation as common land is being slowly but surely taken away by unscrupulous squatters, land owners and at times by the government itself who, as it was the practice in the past, still leases it to pseudo-farmers for a mere pittance thus depriving the citizens of huge swathes of garigue with fantastic views of the area.
In our very cordial meetings with the Estate Management Division we discussed at length this situation also pointing out that in the past even outstanding heritage sites rich in archaeological remains were leased to private individuals with the lease being renewed every year. As a result our undeniable right to walk in open country is under continual threat and so is the countryside itself.
Most of the countryside is littered with notices and warnings most of which are illegal. “Riservato”, “keep out”, “private property”, “danger”, “beware of the dog” etc are a common sight intended to deter ramblers from walking on land that could belong to them. Access is sometimes barred to the cliffs and the foreshore. Even where paths are undoubtedly public it may be hard and hazardous to walk. Obstruction in the form of oil drums, barbed wire, concrete bollards, unauthorised gates are against the law but all too common.
In all European countries closure or diversion of a path can only be carried out by government or local council order. A notice that the government or local council has issued a “closure order” must be published in the papers and the council monthly gazzette and notices must be fixed at the local council office and at both ends of the path. The public has at least 28 days for objections which are held at a public inquiry under the auspices of the Department of the Environment (Legal Division).
In such a situation where various stakeholders have a very important role to play, I invoke a well-loved fairy tale and with apologies to Snow White I venture to ask “Mirror, mirror on the wall who is the naughtiest of us all?” Is it Mepa for its multiple insensitivities against our urban and rural heritage? Is it the Lands Department for failing to surmount the very difficult task of publishing a definitive map showing which pathways and land are public? Heritage Malta for not claiming archaeological sites that are part of our patrimony? Or the green NGOs for not being vociferous enough?
In the interest of “our fair land” let us synchronise our honest efforts to ensure a better environmental future for Malta and Gozo.