President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca seems to be backing calls to protect virgin land, with the President’s Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society saying yesterday that a balance must be struck between development and the protection of natural open space resources.
“It is vital that citizens be actively engaged and encouraged in the continuation of open space protection and preservation.
“The foundation encourages further work in fostering creative foresight, sustained will, and collaboration between civil society and other sectors, in order to ensure that open spaces will continue to play their essential role in the wellbeing of people in Malta and Gozo.”
Social wellbeing must be considered
The foundation said it acknowledged that the impact of the environment on individual and social wellbeing must be considered as a multifaceted and holistic phenomenon.
“Growing contemporary evidence supports the view that exposure and access to green spaces can have a wide range of social, economic, environmental and health benefits,” it said.
It added that the President’s Secret Garden was a direct response to consultation with families through the foundation’s forums and the perceived lack of open spaces for children in Malta. “This led to the provision of a safe and green space in San Anton Palace, and activities that promote healthful and empowering relationship-building among children,” it said.
ODZ group asks Church to withdraw school applications
Pro-environment group Front Ħarsien ODZ has called on the Church to abandon its two applications to build schools in Għaxaq.
The NGO, set up in the aftermath of the controversy surrounding the proposed university project at Żonqor, welcomed the fact the Church has committed itself to a land protection policy as regards any future development but said the project in Għaxaq “would obliterate more than 77,000 square metres of agricultural land”. This would include “rubble walls and mature trees and is only marginally smaller than the Żonqor Point development”.
It said there is still time to save this land and the Church has an opportunity to set a powerful example for the rest of society, strengthening the environmental conscience of the nation on environmental and also ethical and moral grounds. “We call on the Church to not only seriously reconsider but also relocate this project inside the development zone, or alternatively negotiate with the government to occupy one of the empty public schools.”
The group said it would remain vigilant and seek to protect all ODZ indiscriminately, and it would soon be announcing the replies from MPs and party leaders regarding ODZ and the national protest on the proposed Żonqor development on Saturday.