The title of today’s article, which was coined by the lobby group Ħarsien Patrimonju Mosti, may sound overdramatic but it is justified in the context of what is currently happening at Wied l-Għasel in Mosta, where the last farmer (as immortalised in L-Aħħar Bidwi f’Wied l-Għasel) has long closed shop.
No sooner had the application for an injunction submitted by the residents opposing the project been rejected by the courts than the developers moved in with their heavy machinery and made short shrift of numerous trees on site and gashed a massive wound along the valley sides. Residents observed heavy machinery operating literally inches away from the corbelled stone hut on site.
An appeal filed with the Malta Environment and Planning Authority by residents opposing the project is still underway but the next hearing has been pushed back to September, by which time there will be precious little left on site to protect – a situation that truly defies credulity.
Residents feel justified in questioning Mepa’s claim to be the protector of the local environment when none of the numerous designations accorded to the valley by Mepa spared it such despoilment.
The valley’s desecration flies in the face of a Structure Plan policy RCO 29 which states: “No new physical development will normally be allowed on the sides of valleys and especially on valley watercourses except for constructions aimed at preventing soil erosion and the conservation and management of water resources.”
In this column I have assiduously defended the Mepa reform over the past few months but the Wied l-Għasel saga gives the impression that the reform is new wine in old bottles.
Baħrija cesspit raises objections
The recently-approved PA/04942/ 09 was submitted to enable the construction of a communal cesspit in a hamlet, known as Tas-Sirena, in Baħrija. So far, nothing untoward to raise any eyebrows.
But upon delving further one realises that the site is subject to various Mepa designations for its ecological, archaeological and rural value. It lies within a Special Area of Conservation of International Importance, within an Area of Ecological Importance (AEI), an Area of Archaeological Importance and within the buffer zone for Wied Rini and Wied Baħrija.
Hence, unsurprisingly, the Environment Protection Department (EPD) raised numerous objections to the original proposal, mainly on the following grounds: the inadequate siting of the cesspit within an area of unrivalled ecological importance, the risk of sewage overflows from the cesspit into the watercourse further downstream with subsequent pollution and degradation of the same watercourse, and the dubious justification for the project itself.
The EPD recommended that the proposed cesspit be sited at an alternative location, not along the sloping road leading down to the watercourse, that the same cesspit be leak-proof and preferably ventilated to avoid build-up of toxic gases, and that it is preceded by a settling tank to avoid the build-up of slurry in the cesspit.
Besides the EPD, the Natural Committee Advisory Committee also raised objections about this proposal, while all other consulted entities, like the Department of Public Health and the Water Services Corporation, gave their all-clear to the proposal.
Upon recommending approval of such an application, the case officer listed a comprehensive list of conditions prescribed by the Malta Resources Authority and the EPD. This includes that no groundwater is to be extracted from any borehole within the site, that no effluents arising from human activities is to be discharged into the environment, that overspills and dust generation affecting the valleys nearby is to be prevented during the construction phase, that any pipework is to be removed from all surrounding fields and that sensors are to be installed within the cesspit to detect any overspills and leaks. After that the applicant’s architect was asked to submit fresh plans for the re-siting of the same cesspit.
Now that the permit for the cesspit has been approved, one hopes that the strings attached by Mepa to the permit are fully observed and that compliance is monitored regularly; otherwise Mepa would have simply rubberstamped the sewage contamination of the nearby watercourse and groundwater underneath.
Rabid vandalism
The vandalism meted out to the statues of iconic personalities recently placed at Bisazza Street, Sliema, has been well documented in the local media. Unfortunately, precious little such limelight has trickled down to other, equally callous, cases of vandalism, such as that targeting road signs leading to the Xrobb l-Għaġin nature park in Delimara. The national malaise of vandalism seems to show no sign of abating.
Climate’s link with ancient societies
Two recently-finalised projects supported under the EU’s 6th and 7th Framework Programmes – Millennium and Acqwa – have resulted in a study, published in the journal Science, which revealed how periods of climate instability often coincided with turbulent times in European history.
The study assessed ancient tree rings from more than 7,000 fossil and living tree samples, enabling the reconstruction of the history of central Europe’s summer temperature and rainfall for the past 2,500 years. Tree rings have a story to tell in that variations in their thickness, among other features, frequently sheds light on the climatic conditions at the time the ring was formed.
Interestingly, the study concluded that the height of the Roman era in central Europe was characterised by stable climatic conditions in the form of warm and wet summers, considered an essential requisite for a bountiful harvest. Conversely, the study showed how periods of accentuated summer climatic variations (such as fluctuating summer temperatures and rainfall levels) approximately during the years 250 to 600 AD coincided with the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
Similar sobering correlations between climate variability and social strife also emerged in successive centuries, with unfavourable weather conditions being suggested as having a role in trigger-ing the economic crises that emerged during the Black Death plague pandemic in the 14th century.
Also, relatively cold weather is being blamed for both settlement abandonment during the Thirty Years’ War and for the mass migration of many Europeans to America in the 17th and 19th centuries, respectively.
A fitting observation by the study research team is that the compelling outcome of this research may challenge recent political and fiscal reluctance to mitigate projected climate change by giving us the foresight of past scenarios of climate-driven social and political unrest.
So the phenomenon of environmental refugees as a direct consequence of climate change is certainly not new – it’s up to policy- makers to give due importance to these warnings from the past.
www.alandeidun.eu