A committee to safeguard Dwejra will only be set up after a management plan has been drawn up, the Environment Ministry said, adding this could happen in “the coming weeks”.
In comments made to this newspaper following reports that the management board tasked with safeguarding the popular area had been dismantled, a ministry spokesperson said the government was working on setting up the committee as soon as possible, and Environment Minister José Herrera was “taking stock of the situation”.
“The Environment and Resources Authority as the competent authority is currently finalising this plan and the related implementation process,” the spokesperson added.
Gozo shadow minister Chris Said said he welcomed the announcement that the government was addressing the issue but claims that the board would be set up following the drawing up of a management plan contradicted what the minister had said in Parliament on Monday.
Replying to questions by Dr Said, Dr Herrera had said that he had been in touch with the Environment and Resources Authority chairman to discuss the matter. On the structure of the board, the minister said he would be appointing members “immediately”.
The original board, set up in 2007 by then-Mepa to manage the area, consisted of representatives of the government, the local council and environmental bodies.
According to the ministry spokesperson, the government has also recently submitted a proposal to have the current marine protected area at Dwejra extended to a Natura 2000 site as part of efforts to step up its protection.
According to Dr Said, the stakeholders that should be on the board had not yet been approached by the ministry.
“I have been informed that none of the stakeholders, be it the local council, or the environmental NGOs, have yet been consulted,” the shadow minister said, adding that the process of setting up the board was clearly still in its early days.
Appealing to the government not to waste any more time, Dr Said pointed out that the area needed to be urgently attended to and the board set up as soon as possible.
Close to the iconic Azure Window, the area attracts thousands of visitors every year and is often regarded as one of the main attractions of the Maltese islands.
Controversy has for years overshadowed the previous board and its work, most notably in 2010 following the approval of a development permit for the construction of an interpretation centre and ancillary facilities, including a restaurant.
Mepa had defended the permit, saying it was part of a plan agreed by the committee members to build a visitors’ centre. But environmental organisations have insisted the visitors’ centre was an excuse for the construction of a restaurant in a prime location.