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| Date: 07.12.2001 Tal-Virt� golf course Angelo Xuereb is splitting hairs by arguing over whether the Vatican State does not in most people�s minds signify the Church. The agreement with this body, however he chooses to name it, made by the Maltese government, is to be used for pressing social requirements. Now let�s get this straight: the farmers were there first and they do not wish to be removed from the land. Mr Xuereb discounts part-time farmers as if they did not exist. Mr Xuereb makes deprecating statements about the fodder grown in the area threatened by his golf course. Fodder for Malta`s livestock industry is an important crop which gives a pleasing aspect to the countryside. This plant (fodder) which Mr Xuereb deprecates is leguminous, meaning it has root nodules containing nitrogen-fixing bacteria which convert nitrogen in the air into nitrates in the soil, making the soil richer. It is for this reason that it is used for crop rotation. Mr Xuereb tries to come across as an environmental benefactor by saying it is better to build a golf course (which he claims can be reverted to fields again should the project meet with economic failure) than to build social housing. Mr Xuereb knows very well that the present planning principles forbid this use of the land in question. He seems to ignore the use of the words "using derelict land and other land requiring major environmental improvements". Part-time farmers are discounted as if they did not exist. In 1997 the Planning Authority had issued a report in relation to suitable locations for golf courses and made a number of suggestions which Mr Xuereb is trying to combine or ignore. If pesticide use in agriculture is not being properly controlled then let this problem be adequately addressed by the use of more friendly methods such as organic agriculture. It looks as if the Planning Authority board will be the one to decide on the golf course permit and we know that the directorate has recomended a refusal. Finally, I would like to satisfy Mr Xuereb`s nagging query with regards to the Pembroke Residents Association participation on the Front Kontra il-Golf Course. The PRA is against having a development, be it a golf course or otherwise, which would damage the environment, so our support is universal on the Verdala site and even on the possibility of a golf course on the garigue of Pembroke. We are against this sort of development. Mark Causon, Secretary, Pembroke Residents Association. |
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