I refer to the double interview published in The Sunday Times of Malta on January 25 about the upcoming referendum on spring hunting.

I don’t agree with hunting as such, but I don’t mind it as long as it’s within the law and the birds are eaten, as I know for a fact that they are. The interview was very balanced from both sides, but one comment which irked me quite a lot is that the hunters are selfish.

In my opinion, I think that the ones who proposed the referendum are selfish.

The Referendum Act was never established for such a petty issue.

Furthermore, most of those voting No will be doing it against illegal hunting, not against the actual season. Malta will be spending around €2 million to try to remove a law which is used to apply a legal notice for an EU-approved derogation to hunt during 15 half-days in spring. What a waste of money.

Selfishness is trying to stop a perfectly legal hobby and tradition, which Malta not only has the right to, but was also given the official approval from the European Court of Justice. Selfishness is not respecting this legal right as well as an ECJ court decision.

Selfishness is also contesting that the EU-imposed sustainable limit of 11,000 turtle doves cannot be hunted in Malta when the other EU countries have an unlimited quota and catch around four million of them every year.

Selfishness was also mentioned in the context of the countryside. It is a known fact that any parcel of land where soil is present is privately owned.

Out of these, some of them are still government property, but they are all leased out, which renders them private just the same.

The rest of the countryside, where there is no soil, is government owned. These garigue areas, such as Pembroke, are accessible to everyone.

So, as I can understand, the issue boils down to the use and access of paths.

My father owns some land which is surrounded by paths. The main access path is free to all, but another two narrower ones further in are part of the private property. These are called the right of way.

The contract itself states that these two paths are for use solely by other land owners, to gain access to the lands further in.