| Farmers Oppose Golf Course (The Sunday Times, 7/7/02) James Debono Ms Claire Barclay Hoess (Sunday Times 30 th June 2002) describes those involved in the campaign to protect agricultural land in Verdala as "hard core environmentalists" and "Luddites". Is she insinuating that Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orland, the leading heritage organisation Din l-Art Helwa, the progressive and forward looking Alternattiva Demokratika-The Green Party, the representative of the Vatican in Malta and a large number of responsible non government organisation like Friends of the Earth and Nature Trust are all extremist individuals or organisations bent on "sabotage"? According to her perverse logic one may conclude that even the Planning Authority's Directorate which has recommended an outright refusal of this folly, is part of this Luddite conspiracy. The wife of a former ambassador hailing from a progressive European country, should show more respect towards the participation of civil society and Non Governmnet Organisations in the running of a modern democracy. Her remarks are reminiscent of totalitarian ways of thinking which are fortunately obsolete in modern Europe. May I remind Ms Hoess that it was Angelo Xuereb who sabotaged "public information", when he publicised his golf course, despite the fact that the golf course was never approved. Angelo Xuereb (Sunday Times 30 th June 2002), on the other hand, proposes the ridiculous argument that environmentalists would have opposed the construction of Mdina, presumably in Roman or Punic times! Rather than going back in time, Angelo Xuereb should start giving a satisfactory answer to the following arguments. 1. A golf course wastes our limited supply of water. 2. It is irrational to destroy an economy involving a large number of part time and full time farmers in order to cater for the needs of one developer. 3. It is irrational to substitute agricultural land with golf course grass in a country which is losing 2 km square of agricultural land every year. In order to evade these questions Angelo Xuereb is trying to lure the public by promising that his golf course project will leave the land in question as similar as possible to the way it is kept today. My question therefore is: Why not leave it exactly as it is with some major improvements like organic and biological farming, agro tourism and vine yards? Unfortunately AX Holding's track record in environmental matters is far from optimal to inspire much confidence. The way Verdala mansions were developed is just one example of AX Holdings' negative track record. Therefore one cannot blame many civil society organisations who are defending our agricultural land and opposing his golf course. |
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