Chairperson of ADPD-The Green Party Sandra Gauci has said that the fact that practically throughout the year we are having a sizeable volume of tourists is leaving residents ”tired and fed up with the effects including noise at all times of the day, garbage everywhere and widespread vandalism.” She added that ”the problems that tourism is causing need to be addressed from the roots.”

”We can hardly talk about a peak season because this can be said to be spread all year round. Just as Airbnbs and even hotels or boutique hotels have also become widespread throughout the country in places considered residential and where they would never have dreamed of making such accommodations. A clear example is the case of Qormi where there was recently a proposal to establish a hotel in a central area,” said Ms Gauci.

She argued that ”this shows how you can say that all control and direction of where exactly the country wants to go has been lost. There is no planning and the effects of this are being felt in an infrastructure that has given way several times: power outages for several hours and even days, sewage in the beaches and exaggerated traffic at all times of the day.”

ADPD stressed that:

The reports that have been made on carrying capacity should be considered carefully. The infrastructure has repeatedly shown that the limit has been exceeded;

It is necessary that what the government promised that part of the eco-tax on tourism be distributed to local councils as soon as possible. The eco-tax needs to continue to increase and be given in its entirety to local councils that are closest to the citizen and know the needs of their locality well;

It is also necessary that fines that are given also go to the councils to invest them in better services in the locality;

We also need to spend on building more hotels, the limit we have reached is long gone. Let’s stick with what we have.

“It is clear that Malta has reached its limit and the time has come to say so! No one will die of hunger but many will live better. Ultimately, the tourism sector should not be another element detrimental to the quality of daily life of residents, concluded Gauci.

File photo: Gozo News/Alain Salvary

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