Environment Minister José Herrera, under whose watch the degradation of the environment has reached levels that threaten to destroy forever the face of Malta as we know it, was far from convincing when he tried to justify the lack of progress made in the implementation of the public domain law.
A law that he himself had called revolutionary in concept appears to have been languishing in a morass of bureaucratic barriers with none of the 24 sites nominated in the first report having been declared as public domain. He says he is disappointed by the delay, which he attributes to teething problems.
It is only reasonable to make allowance for teething trouble but clearly more than enough time has passed for the government to get on with the job and start delivering on what many had hoped would ensure what the law lays down – the safeguarding of environmentally or culturally significant sites against unsustainable development, excessive commercialisation and environmental destruction.
Among the sites already nominated are Comino, the Valletta coastline, Ħondoq ir-Rummien, parts of Ta’ Ċenċ, the coast between Ġnejna and Mtaħleb, the Floriana pinetum, Manoel Island, Wied Garnaw, and the Wied iż-Żurrieq-to-Għar Lapsi foreshore.
Opposition MP Jason Azzopardi, who had piloted the law through Parliament as a private member’s Bill, has accused the government of lacking the political will to see the process through. He pointedly and correctly remarked that it was useless drafting laws if there was no political will. Not so, replied the minister, arguing that had there been no political will they would not have passed the law.
The minister seems to be blissfully unaware of laws, rules and regulations that are not followed to the letter. Neither would anyone want to see economic disruption or create panic among landowners. The delays, argued the minister, came about after the parliamentary committee received legal advice to clarify ownership issues within the nominated sites to ensure that no individual rights were affected.
It is also only reasonable to allow good time for ownership issues to be clarified, and for cases involving disputes with any of the parties, to be settled first before going ahead with the process.
But the process appears to be taking far too long, so much so that the September deadline set by the law for the submission to Parliament of another batch of sites nominated for public domain status has been missed. This does not show any particular enthusiasm for progress by whoever is charged to ensure that the process runs smoothly.
If the process is going to take this long, it would take ages before sites deserving public domain status are officially declared as such. The country, now being gradually disfigured by an uncontrolled building boom, cannot possibly wait this long. Many people are greatly disheartened at seeing the island’s character being so wilfully destroyed as one town house after another bites the dust.
Contrary to what the Prime Minister may think, no one is arguing in favour of the status quo. What most people are strongly against is the haphazard development taking place all over the island – concrete structures of no architectural value often replacing buildings that make up the island’s distinctive character.
If the Environment Minister means what he says, he ought to at least ensure the public domain process is speeded up.
This is a Times of Malta print editorial