The proposed supermarket on virgin land outside Xewkija goes against too many principles to be acceptable. Attention has already been drawn to many reasons, including social reasons, why this is wrong.
The NGOs Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, Ramblers Association of Malta, Din l-Art Ħelwa, Friends of the Earth, Malta Organic Agriculture Movement and Nature Trust are appealing to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, with reason, against the granting of a permit for a supermarket.
Developments of this sort are systematically destroying village
life by draining streets of the vibrancy they once had. With more supermarkets outside towns, small neighbourhood grocers, butchers, green grocers and corner mini-markets are having to close down. This deprives locals, especially the elderly (or the less well-off with no car) by putting shopping out of their reach.
Such developments will eventually spell the end of village cores with the erosion of the social function of our street which will merely become conduits for transportation to supermarkets with nobody in them meeting and shopping at corner stores or from street vendors. Through these changes we will soon have irretrievably lost something that was fundamental to our society.
The EU has also dedicated 2012 as the European Year for Active Aging and Solidarity between Generations with the aim of promoting innovative solutions to the socio-economic challenges of an aging population.
The recommendation is now for a “compact city” in which everything, from culture and shopping, medical services and leisure spaces is within walking distance. In this way everybody, especially the aged, will be enabled to keep active, to keep walking while they are able and to remain engaged in civic life.
An out-of-reach (except by car) supermarket only serves to further deprive the less privileged and the old of their nearby grocer which served as a social focus and at the same time robbing them of their independence.
By permitting such out-of-town supermarkets, Mepa will simply be demonstrating its indifference to current realities, putting big business – and profit for the few – before peoples’ well-being and ignoring the health, social and environmental impacts of such developments.