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This
Friday the 11th July another
scene in the saga of the Ramla Bay project will be enacted when the MEPA
Appeals Board meets in Gozo to hear the Ramla developers’ appeal against
MEPA’s rescinding of their permit to build 23 villas with pools on the
Ramla hillside, partly on ODZ land.
The
permit, which had been granted in the
face of strong opposition by the Gozitan Save Ramla group and Maltese
environment NGOs, had subsequently been rescinded on the grounds of false
information being provided since the developer’s application failed to
state that part of the footprint included a public road. The
reversal of the permit took place shortly after a large protest in
Valletta organised by the
environment NGOs drew an estimated 1,500 protestors to Valletta to express
their disgust at this and other mega-projects threatening Gozo.
Still, there were those who at the time voiced the opinion that MEPA could
have quashed the project through a much more effective route, and instead
chose a system that provided a temporary respite, but could be reversed
after the elections.
These
worries were further fuelled by the fact that over the last nine months,
the authorities have made no attempt to clear the many illegal structures
on the site, in spite of repeated calls for such action on the part of the
Save Ramla Group. The
ripping up of the trees (public property) that flanked the public road and
the developers spending time and money to clear the site would indicate
that they know something that the public does not.
Flimkien
ghal Ambjent Ahjar maintains that the only equitable solution for all
parties is Government’s acquisition of the ODZ site at a non-development
value. This is not unrealistic, especially considering the option of
exchanging it for public land available within the development zones.
Now
that Gozo has been designated as an Eco-Island, one would imagine that one
can rest easy, knowing that such projects have no place on an
eco-Island…or do they? The
public is also alarmed by a very significant change in the line-up of the
developers, and ardently hopes that it will not be seeing a repeat of the
Mistra JPO affair.
Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar
9th July 2008