Thousands attended the national environment protest held in Valletta, organised by eight NGOs from Malta and Gozo.

The eight organisations, namely – Moviment Graffitti, Friends of the Earth Malta, Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar, Din l-Art Helwa, Nature Trust Malta-FEE, Ghawdix, BirdLife Malta and Ramblers’ Association Malta, are demanding urgent environmental and planning reform.

This national protest had been endorsed by more than 80 groups from all over Malta and Gozo, including among others, resident organisations and over 200 University of Malta academics.

The protest march – Xebbajtuna! Bidla fl-Ambjent u l-Ippjanar ISSA! – started from the Triton Fountain, then towards the Castille and on to Great Siege Square, where speeches were made.The organisers said that “building in the countryside, destroying the historical heritage, destruction in the urban areas, and now, after destroying our land to fatten their pockets, they are indicating that they also want to go to the sea.”

They argued that “all this comes from somewhere. It comes from a Government that was kidnapped, sold and ended up in the pockets of developers and other big businessmen – the real rulers of our country.”

“From Gozo, to the upper side to the lower side of Malta, we have seen communities come together to save the quality of life and their environment. In Qala they are fighting to save Hondoq and also against the construction by Joseph Portelli,” the organisers said

In many cases these communities emerged victorious. But we cannot stop here. We still have a lot to do to win the war in favour of the quality of life and our environment,” they said.

The stated that “the structures that regulate the environment and planning exist to facilitate the profits of big businesses and not to protect the people’s wealth.”

The organisers insisted that “the planning policies we have were written by developers for developers. And instead of getting better, they are getting worse. The government has just passed a law to punish the developers and regularise the illegalities in the ODZ.”

“We will not let it go,” they said. “Regarding this we will be announcing legal actions from our side in order to stop the Government from continuing to ruin our campaign.”“The Government and its authorities need to be on our side, the side of the people, and not on the side of greed and exploiters,” they said.

They added that “this will not happen by any miracle. It will only happen with work, organisation and unity between us – between all those who care about the present and the future of this country. We have one Malta.”

They concluded by saying, “let’s unite at this time. Let’s fight for freedom from the rule of greed. Take heart, because in the end our victory will be. The fight will continue. See you in the next one.”

The organisations demanded the following immediate actions:

1. “to change planning policies – such as those allowing buildings on ODZ, the height and intensity of buildings, the height of hotels, and the scheduling of sites of historic interest and value – in order to stop the wave of construction that does not respect context, heritage, natural environment, farmers and residents;

2. “to radically reform all institutions responsible for the environment, planning and lands, so that they start functioning in a serious and transparent manner and independently from politicians and businesses;

3. “to build an economic model that seeks a better quality of life for everyone instead of endless economic growth based on the profits of the few.”

Photos: Moviment Graffitti

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