Yesterday, as Parliament opened after recess, environmentalists took to the streets of Valletta to protest against what they describe as the most corrupt planning law in history. Enviriomental groups and NGOs are demanding the government to withdraw the bills and are also stating that the consultation process that took place in Summer was meaningless. The laws will give unprecedented powers to the Planning Authority to flout environmental laws and regulations.
At the same time, a group of environmental activists also met with the newly elected Leader of the Opposition, Alex Borg who stated with them that he wants the government to fully withdraw the proposed bills. Alex Borg also stated with the environmentalists that he wants to freeze ODZ boundaries and he also agreed with their concerns over Malta’s overdevelopment. Interestingly, Alex Borg told the environmental activists that he wants to introduce public subsidies to political parties to reduce the political parties’ dependency on the construction lobby. He reiterated that he is not fronting any interests of large donors or developers.
Alex Borg seems to be taking constructive and opposing positions with regard to the government as Opposition Leader. His new positions also indicate that he may be genuinely interested in addressing systematic issues in our politics. It’s still too early to tell, but he may be on a good start.
Website Editor
Historian and Publisher
Leave a Reply