2 comments so far.FAA calls for Hondoq to be turned into nature and heritage park
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Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar has welcomed the news that the Hondoq Bay saga has taken a turn for the best, with the refusal of the developers’ appeal.
“This is wonderful news, as FAA and its members have been campaigning against this mega-project since the NGO set up in 2006, due to the project’s dire implications for Qala residents,” it said.
FAA insisted that, “the Government owes it to the Gozitan and Maltese public to turn this area into a nature and heritage park, as submitted in FAA’s Public Domain submissions, and as the area was originally designated.”
It pointed out that “such a project would be of far greater value in attracting tourists to Gozo than yet another hotel and more holiday flats.”
The NGO explained that a research project that it had carried out with the Qala Local Council and University had shown that this location is rich in ancient remains.
FAA stated that the construction of the hotel, villas and flats “would have generated thousands trips of trucks belching toxic diesel emissions passing through the village of Qala, plus thousands of cars and suppliers’ trips every week once operational, increasing Qala’s already high rate of air pollution.”
It added that the project would also have threatened Hondoq beach which is the only beach Gozitans and tourists alike can use safely when northerly winds make Marsalforn and Ramla l-Hamra dangerous for swimmers.
FAA expressed thanks to Mayor Paul Buttigieg and the Qala Local Council “for their steadfast protection of Qala’s environment and residents’ interests.”
File photo/Gozo News
This is fantastic news for Qala on the Hondoq -Bay saga! Well done to all the campaigners the Mayor and those who cared enough to voice their opinions and help protect this beautiful area. A change is on the way! 🙂
Yes this is wonderful news indeed and I am very happy this decision has been made but cynic that I am, I wonder how was this turnaround achieved? What promises have been made regarding other prime pieces of Gozo that as yet lie untouched and pristine? – there are not many but they still exist. I do hope that nothing has been promised and I would be very happy to be proved wrong but I fear that in the future another application will be made of similar mega proportions possibly a little further around the coast and this time the outcome will not be a happy one for Gozo or it’s residents. Let’s hope I am wrong.