 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Throughout
summer of 2006, the authorities justified the Rationalisation scheme to
use more countryside for construction purposes by claiming that this would
seal shut the development zones and prevent further building Out of
Development Zone (ODZ). Before and after this year’s general
elections, the electorate continued to be promised more environmental
awareness and respect, with emphasis on protection of the countryside.
Six months down the road and this promise is far from materialising.
Over
the last six months alone, MEPA approved not less than 318 permits to
build structures in the countryside or ODZ, many of which are to be built
on fresh agricultural land. Although MEPA regulations stipulate that
only bona fide agricultural structures, parks and recreational facilities
are normally permitted to be built in ODZ, the NGOs are dismayed to see
that these permits included flats, garages and light industries. It is
therefore hardly surprising that developers are still confident of
obtaining permits to build in ODZ and that in spite of official
declarations of “no more speculation in ODZ” such applications
continue to flood into MEPA, with over 1,160* submitted to MEPA over the
last twelve months, at an average rate of 20% of the total of applications
submitted.
The
rate of take-up of agricultural sites has further escalated recently with
the setting up of small industry complexes such as the micro-industry park
on fields at ‘Telgha t’Alla u’Ommu’, Naxxar and several other
sites which consume a great many tumoli of previously arable land when the
carcasses of unfinished showrooms and empty factories litter the island.
This could have been avoided by a Strategic Environment Assessment (SEA)
on the sector’s present facilities and future needs. Similarly
agro-industries are also being permitted to re-locate to cultivated fields
in an unregulated manner rather than being incentivated to re-use
abandoned farm buildings.
The
lack of revision of the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) regulations,
which actually facilitate ODZ projects, and the sixteen-year delay in
setting up the Consultants’ Register and Code of Ethics, which could
have taken place well before MEPA reform, also leaves the countryside more
vulnerable to predatory mega-projects such as those at Hondoq ir-Rummien,
Ramla l-Hamra and Mellieha Bay.
In
view of this, Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar (FAA), Friends of the Earth (
The
damage inflicted on the limited remaining open undeveloped land and the
environment is irreversible and leads to increased dependence on food
imports, loss of biodiversity and rural character, decreased water
catchment and infringement of EU regulations. Most importantly, we
are depriving present and future generations of the physical and mental
health benefits as well as improved quality of life that only the
countryside can provide. With MEPA reform still very far from
being implemented, the environment NGOs are extremely concerned that the
countryside is as much under threat as ever and that the promised
protection of the countryside is still very far from becoming reality.
* Data as published by MEPA on-line.
Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar
1st October 2008