The coalition of Malta’s leading environmental NGOs, Ġustizzja għal Artna, has sharply criticised the government’s latest environmental proposals, warning that Labour’s newly announced national parks and rationalisation-site protections do little to address the root causes of Malta’s overdevelopment crisis.
Ġustizzja għal Artna argued that the government is attempting to compensate for years of environmental destruction with a handful of “last-minute” environmental pledges while continuing to prioritise developers’ interests and weaken planning protections.
The statement was signed by the Ramblers’ Association of Malta, Moviment Graffitti, BirdLife Malta, Friends of the Earth Malta, Din l-Art Ħelwa and Din l-Art Ħelwa, Nature Trust Malta, Wirt Għawdex, Għawdix, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar
and Front Żgħażagħ għall-Ambjent.
The criticism follows Prime Minister Robert Abela’s announcement of new environmental pledges as part of the election campaign, including the expansion of national parks and a promise that publicly owned rationalisation sites would not be used for “speculative” development.
However, the NGOs questioned why such proposals only emerged after the major protests against the government’s planning reform proposals last October.
In their statement, the NGOs warned that Malta has already endured “long years of destructive overdevelopment” caused by successive governments refusing to seriously regulate the construction industry.
The NGOs also directly criticised Robert Abela for recently indicating that Local Plans could be changed, potentially weakening protections enjoyed by towns and even Outside Development Zone (ODZ) areas.
The statement further argues that the government’s proposal regarding rationalisation sites only partially addresses environmental concerns because most rationalisation sites remain in private hands and therefore remain fully exposed to speculative development. In addition, publicly owned rationalisation sites could still be indirectly commercialised through concessions, sports-facility projects, commercial developments or public-private partnerships tied to “affordable housing” schemes.
This criticism comes amid increasing public backlash over projects involving the commercialisation of public spaces and coastal areas. Manoel Island, which has been promised as a national park, is already being developed with private facilities. Ġustizzja għal Artna criticised the government’s inaction regarding the illegal built padel-court development within the Manoel Island project itself, warning that this creates little confidence that future “national parks” will genuinely remain protected from commercial interests.
The statement ultimately argues that Labour’s environmental proposals merely address symptoms while leaving untouched what the NGOs describe as the real structural problem: a political system that continues placing developers’ interests ahead of environmental protection and residents’ quality of life.
Full statement below.
The undersigned NGOs have taken note of a number of proposals made by the Prime Minister relating to the environment. The proposals include the extension and formation of a number of new national parks, including at Manoel Island, and a commitment that the Government would not use publicly owned Rationalisation sites for ‘speculative ‘purposes’.
The ENGOs feel that establishing new national parks is a positive step, but question why these started being proposed after the protests against the Planning Reform last October.
Our country has endured long years of destructive overdevelopment, which has disfigured our towns and green spaces. This is a direct result of the Government’s resistance to regulate the building industry. A number of parks are now being proposed at the eleventh hour as compensation for the damage done to the country, while there is still no mention of regulating the excesses of the building industry. In fact, a few days ago, the Prime Minister has even indicated that he would change the Local Plans, stripping away protections enjoyed by our towns and potentially even ODZ areas.
The ENGOs observe that the Government is limiting itself to protecting only publicly owned rationalisation sites from ‘speculative development’. Although the protection of these public sites is a positive step, we are concerned that other kinds of development may still be allowed on these sites. For instance, some of these sites may fall prey to the upcoming planning regulations on the commercialisation of sports facilities, where the Government awards concessions to third parties to develop nominal sports facilities surrounded by shops, restaurants and the like in order to make the sports facilities ‘commercially viable’. Other sites may be given away to developers to develop ‘affordable housing’ schemes under public-private partnership arrangements.
The ENGOs also point out that the rationalisation site proposal is unlikely to put residents’ minds at rest, since most of these rationalisation sites are in private hands and today’s announcement will not affect these in the slightest. Construction on these sites will continue and more green spaces in our towns will be eaten away by private speculative development.
The ENGOs are also very concerned that the Government will start giving away our sea to private land reclamation projects, such as the scandalous lido which was just proposed at Sliema Strand.
The ENGOs are also troubled by the fact that the Government is already ignoring the illegal development of padel courts within the Manoel Island project and that this does not augur well for the proposed national parks. This is giving rise to concerns that these parks will be taken over by private interests, and the Government is not putting these fears to rest in any way with its inaction.
In the opinion of the ENGOs, there seems to be no willingness or intention to change course, as the Government will continue to put developers’ interests first. Within this context, positive measures such as those proposed, end up treating the symptoms instead of the real cause of the country’s severe environmental problems.
Ramblers’ Association of Malta
Moviment Graffitti
Friends of the Earth Malta
BirdLife Malta
Din l-Art Ħelwa
Nature Trust Malta
Wirt Għawdex
Għawdix
Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar
Front Żgħażagħ għall-Ambjent
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