Simone Mizzi’s (Building, Building Everywhere, October 23) sounds the alarm bells on over-development in and outside building zones of our once fair island. And this includes Gozo.

Money talks, and big money talks big – in over-construction and the uglification of our dear island home.

The Aesthetics Board, of which my late father, architect Albert E. Vassallo, was an active member, has been defunct for many years. Will it really be resuscitated? Or is this hogwash?

We have to get serious about preserving our islands. Our governments have often had, and still have, wrong priorities.

Supposedly attractive spots like Spinola Bay (picture) are disordered dumps, with negative aesthetic value, having no harmony, no beauty and no order, except for their picturesquely colourful boats. Most buildings are a real unmitigated mess.

We may need the unbiased services of a wise and experienced foreign aesthetics and environmental expert to point this out to us, assess our urban and rural situation and drum some sense into us. Then we may listen! We do not see the obvious ugliness sprouting around us, in bays, villages and even most shockingly in Valletta. We have become insensitive to beauty and ugliness. This is the price of materialism and consumerism. No beauty, no harmony, no empty spaces, no gardens, no unencumbered foreshore and beaches, just over-exploitation.

Our children will pay the price soon enough and we may also have to pay a price ourselves very soon, as we end up living in a degraded environment.

With materialism, our values have gone awry. All that we can think of is more and more: building, fast money, over-exploitation of land and nature.

This uncaring exploitation of our urban cores, village outskirts, countryside and natural environment is fast becoming our downfall. We could see our tourist arrivals plummet because the beautiful environment will have vanished in one generation, due to an uncaring and greedy population.

Government, urban and rural planners and developers should heed these warnings. For, steadily, Malta is turning ugly.