The grant of €10,000 allotted to the Qala local council, from the central government, for the analytical and technical study of the proposed project of Ħondoq ir-Rummien, is long awaited good news for all environmentalists.

My main concern here is how impartial will this EIA be when the government is basically telling the Qala council who to use for the study.

If this is a fair and impartial study, then the only conclusion that can be reached is that the whole idea of a marina, hotel and apartments in this area is totally flawed. Ħondoq ir-Rummien has the cleanest bathing water in Gozo and a development on this scale would ruin it forever. What right does anyone have to spoil such a gift from God in the name of financial profit?

I don't live in Gozo and, therefore, I don't have a vote, at least not from the point of view of local elections.

What I do have is what I would call the tourist vote. If the Maltese government and their front line troops in Mepa continue to destroy the natural beauty of the islands to appease rich developers, then I will be looking for somewhere else to take my holidays. Don't they understand that they are destroying the very things that bring tourists to their country?

If a marina is required on Gozo, then there are quite a few places eminently more suitable for such a development than Ħondoq ir-Rummien. My message, therefore, to the government is a simple one: Stop building things that are not required and start fixing up the thousands of empty properties that form a scar on the local landscape. Can I suggest that before any further new development is even considered on Gozo all the empty properties are developed first?