Seven environmental groups have expressed serious concern at the way environmental issues were being used as vote-catching pawns.
Din L-Art Helwa, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, Nature Trust (Malta), Ramblers Association and Friends of the Earth (Malta), Birdlife Malta and Gaia Foundation said the many crucial issues that were foremost in the public mind regarding the future of our environment should be addressed with the dignity and importance.
The way the main parties were turning the election campaign into a boxing match was inappropriate.
“It is also deplorable that proposed changes to environment policies are bandied about superficially and obscurely.”
The NGOs said they were not satisfied with the inadequate statements proposed by the two leading political parties and required clear concrete proposals on the following issues:
• The protection of Natura 2000 and SAC sites that deserved the highest level of central protection and not local level protection of councils;
• The improvement of air quality through measures addressing transport pollution, which was costing the nation millions of euros;
• Restrict over-development until a serious analysis of the carrying capacity of sustainable construction was carried out;
• Organise law enforcement and effective action against illegal structures and illicit squatting especially in ODZ, with special reference to the Armier boat houses unlawfully constructed on usurped public land;
• End illegal hunting and trapping and ensure the right law enforcement structures;
• Stop the decline of both terrestrial and marine biodiversity through adequate conservation measures;
• Ensure freedom of access to the countryside and the foreshore by the formation of a definitive map of the Maltese Islands;
• Ensure animal rights and take action on animal cruelty;
The environmental NGOs said they were not satisfied by what was divulged so far by the two main parties on their electoral programmes.
They were concerned that in the PN programme:
• No action is mentioned to address the issue of illlegal boreholes;
• Unlawfully built structures prior to 2009 will be sanctioned, when the way forward should be to take legal action to reverse illegality and fine the culprits;
• The National Environment policy launched last year is still not being implemented by all government ministries in a horizontal manner;
• The underwater tunnel to Gozo has been promised without its disruptive impact on land and seabed being taken in into account.
In the case of the PL programme the NGOs are concerned that:
• The security risks to neighbourhoods of the proposed gas tanks at Delimara Point have not been adequately considered or to the valuable heritage and natural resources of the Deliminara peninsula;
• Dr Joseph Muscat stated that economic measures will override environmental ones and that development is a pillar of our economy, when in fact it is undermining our banking system, tourism and public health.
• Unlawfully built structures prior to 2009 will be legalised, when the way forward should be to take legal action to reverse illegality and fine the culprits;
While also deploring the attack on the AD chairman in connection with the party’s stand on the Armier illegal boathouses, the group called on the main parties to be clear on their intentions and address the issues that have for long been bypassed.