| Better A Farmer Than A Caddy! Julian Manduca www.maltastar.com Friday, July 26, 2002 Today�s article was meant to be a continuation of what I started on the Labour�s draft environment policy, but I have decided to postpone that because of something of greater urgency. I was present at the public hearing on the Verdala golf course on Tuesday evening along with several other representatives of environment groups, many farmers, members of the public and others representing the developer, Angelo Xuereb. During the entire 3 and a half hours that the meeting lasted only two people spoke in favour of the golf course. One is an employee of Xuereb and another his friend (although he denies it) Antoine Vella, the former chairperson of Birdlife. Nobody was there to represent the PN and nobody to represent the MLP (despite its supposed opposition); the board members of the MEPA did not come either, and neither did members of the National Commission for Sustainable Development, except myself and Prof Edward Scicluna, who was one of the consultants that prepared the Environment Impact Statement. The arrogance, or ignorance, of the organisers of the meeting, members of the Environment section within MEPA is hard to understand. No translators were brought to the meeting which, the organisers knew, was to be made mostly in English, when it was clear that many of the farmers hardly understand that language. The former director for the environment even resisted calls for a translator and if it was up to him would have had the British consultants address an audience, half of whom would not have understood a word. Unbelievable! Parts of the media, especially �The Times� has shown a pro-golf course bias throughout the past months and several press releases on the topic opposing the development were not carried, while the paper failed to send reporters to the press conference organised by those opposing the golf course. The reasons why the golf course should be rejected are so strong that only a corrupt or ignorant MEPA Board can approve the project: 1) it goes against planning law; 2) it breaks an international agreement between the Malta government and the Vatican; 3) it is socially unjust; 4) it cannot be considered sustainable development; 5) the figures used to indicate the economic viability of the proposal are faulty; 6) it will be environmentally destructive If the project is approved the MEPA should explain to the public what the point of having a Structure Plan is. The Structure Plan states: �Any golf courses should be located where: It can be accommodated without adverse environmental impact or loss of good quality agricultural land��. �..Potentially suitable locations are those where positive environmental benefits can be achieved by utilising derelict land or land requiring major environmental improvements.� I find hard to believe that Angelo Xuereb and all the consultants that are suggesting the project is beneficial to Malta, have the gall to stand in the same hall as the farmers that they so unceremoniously want to kick out of �their� land. They ought to be ashamed to suggest that these farmers should give up their own enterprises in order to become caddies. Ask the farmers whether they would rather plough the fields or push the golf carts of golfers!!!! The consultants have all signed a letter to state that they have no commercial interests in the project. Unfortunately nothing is said about possible financial interests between these same consultants and AX Holdings and when Mike Briguglio asked the consultants whether they could state that they had no such interests none of them did. The attitude of Antoine Vella, remains a matter of much debate among environmentalists. Vella is a lecturer in agriculture at the university of Malta, but he never seems to have a good word to say about farmers. He has been suggesting that the golf course should be developed at the Verdala site � saying that this would be the site that would be least damaging. That this is untrue is plain to all, and environmentally several sites are to be preferred to the Verdala one, including one adjacent to that, where an application has already been filed. However, the truth remains that no proper study has been carried out � as MEPA should have done in its Golf Course Topic Paper � to determine the best site for Malta. The farmers� pleas to continue to lead the lives they have enjoyed up until now are falling on deaf ears, but surely the shame is on the other side. |
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