37 comments so far.Please leave the natural beauty of Hondoq untouched
 Email item
|  Print item
|
|
Whilst recently holidaying in Malta, I spent a day with friends who live in Qala on the island of Gozo. I was taken by them to the beach at Hondoq. I was deeply impressed and moved by the beauty of the bay and the surrounding scenery.
I found it to be a wholly tranquil, unspoilt and truly lovely spot after the bustle on the mainland in Malta, as well as a rare haven for wild life. It was 6.00 o’clock in the evening and many local people from Qala had come to the beach to swim and meet their friends and neighbours. There was a fantastic community spirit as these people gathered on their precious beach to enjoy their beautiful surroundings and each other’s company.
After a refreshing swim, my friends informed that this unique area is threatened with redevelopment for tourism and the local community are shattered by the plans that are being proposed.
AS A VISITOR, I WISH TO ADD MY PROTEST AT SUCH PLANS TAKING EFFECT. THE ISLAND OF GOZO IS STILL UNSPOILT. IF DEVELOPERS ARE ALLOWED TO GET THEIR WAY AT HONDOQ, IT WILL TERMINATE THE BEAUTY, PEACE, LIFELINE FOR WILD LIFE AND HAVEN FOR THE LOCAL COMMUNITY THAT HONDOQ OFFERS AND THE ISLAND OF GOZO GENERALLY.
PLEASE RECONSIDER LEAVING THIS AREA TO BE UNTOUCHED IN ITS NATURAL BEAUTY. FAR BETTER FOR VISITORS TO EXPERIENCE HONDOQ IN ITS NATURAL STATE THAN A RESORT OF CONCRETE HOTELS AND APARTMENTS WHICH WOULD BE AN UTTER TRADGEDY FOR THIS JEWEL OF AN ISLAND.
Helen Duxbury,
London,
U.K.
Hello Helen.
I`m a resident German living on Gozo since 7 years .
Thank you for your protest. This is a area to save !!!
There is more to do, but it needs time and sense.
Green thinking and to hear about the people !!!
Didi
I hope locals read the previous comment. Gozo is such a beautiful Island and yet people insist on destroying such a tranquil place.
(Melbourne, Australia)
Hondoq should be left for everyone to enjoy not for the few hungry sharks that the only way they look at it is how much money they can make out of it .
Hondoq belongs to everyone .Please keep it that way
Agree with you 100% Helen. Gozo is a beautiful little island populated by really nice people and it would be hard to find any that didn’t like Hondoq. It’s a beautiful spot to meet up with friends in the evening and one of the best places on the island to swim. The water is crystal clear and when the sea is rough elsewhere it is usually calm in Hondoq Bay. The people of Qala voted overwhelmingly, 83% if I remember right against the development of a marina at Hondoq. They love the area, Gozitans in general love the area, the Maltese who come over at the weekends love the area and as you have now discovered tourists like us love the area. LEAVE HONDOQ ALONE!
Hondoq ir-Rummien is a beautiful Bay for relaxation ,but there is a valuable Canyon
nearby approximatly a mile away named ta ( FOZOQ) bult by nature in solid rocks,
andit could be developed into a huge water Reservoir to store water for both Gozo
and Malta ,and you will never need to import water from other countries anymore.
Nowadays you have engeeners that are cabable to cut rocks ,to use concreate to
built it in separate sections to have the water treated and purifed for human consump
tion for ever.,go for it Government Resources,it will take years to built this project
I am a stationary by trade edukated in Canada,I love to see you succeed
How come a day tourist realise how damaging this idea of ruining Hondoq is and then MEPA keeps on processing this application.
MEPA for once please take a decision to the benefit of Malta and Gozo and that is a clear answer of refusal.
A M
Hi Helen,
Thank you for your valuable comments regarding the beautiful bay at Hondoq.
As a bed and breakfast owner in the village of Qala, I can only hope that voices and opinions such as yours are heard and listened to, and that MEPA will finally give a resounding ‘NO’ to any developers wanting to destroy this beautiful place.
My guests all love Hondoq and spend a great deal of their precious holiday time enjoying the natural beauty of the bay, let’s hope it is all still there for locals and visitors to enjoy for many more years to come.
Thanks again
Julie Wiltshire
Helen is right: The lovely setting at Hondoq ir-Rummien MUST be saved from greed… RESTORATION – YES, SPOILATION – NO ! MEPA must act responsibly and prove to us that it has reformed its old destructive ways. Please keep this beautiful coastal site out of reach of greedy hands to remain as the people have always known and loved it. A little care and maintenance is all that is needed at Hondoq and environs. Over-development is a serial killer.
Malta needs to get out of the EU which is easy for any country to do if they want to save the island from corruption
Well said Helen.
Hondoq is also my favourite bay and my friends and I have been writing letters to the papers and MEPA for years requesting that it be saved from the developers greed. I even sent a petition to the EU some years ago. Unfortunately, nobody at MEPA or in the Government, is prepared to talk out against the developers or to commit themselves in any way. Money and votes are just too important.
I sincerely hope that with the election coming up in a couple of years time the politicians won’t promise the earth (read Hondoq and Ramla) to the developers in the hope of gaining votes and party funds.
Hi Helen
You’ve put in some short words what the residents and foreiners (ex pats) have been saying for some while, congratulations!
My wife Carole and I lived in Qala for 20 years and used to enjoy early morning and evening dips to cool before the heat and after the hot day. Like you we loved the joint feeling between our neighbours and friends of the village and the Island.
We have moved back to the UK due family, age and not being able to cope with the long term heat, but will still return for breaks.
We support appeal to MEPA and hope the locals succeed in their campaign to keep Hondoq as we’ve known it for 20 plus years.
Best Regards
Norm and Carle Simm
What a lovely letter from Helen. As a resident of Qala I look at Hondoq as the ‘Jewel in our Crown.’
Why is it that developers greed is allowed to destroy so many beautiful places. Marsalforn and Xlendi have been blighted by over development and many of the apartments built remain empty. Despite this more are being built.
Gozo must remain the way it is. Beautiful. Chipping away at so many edges will eventually cause a crack and the rupture will destroy the beauty forever.
Thank you for raising this issue Helen.
George
Dump MEPA and save Hondoq. Only the greedy and money hungry developers would want to destroy Hondoq and deprive everyone of its natural beauty so that a few well to do can berth their luxury yachts down there. Do not let them get away with this travesty.
At all above comments
Hondoq definetly should remain for everyone to enjoy.Today it is northerly wind and have just came swimming from Hondoq and it is Jam packed because at Ramla and Marsalforn is is not suitable for swimming.
So if it wasn`t for Hondoq today where would all those swimming over there go in a pool???? Definetly a big NO WAY
Save Hondoq at all cost .
@ the developers of Hondoq.Take some photos .video so when you go back home you will see what your proposals mean.That is pushing away all those families with lower income away to have a decent enjoyment without spending a lot of money .
PS I know that Gozo News is being read by them .That`s why I have made this passionate plea
As a frequent visitor to Gozo, with nearly 50 trips since 1978,I am dismayed at the thought of any developers getting allowed to build a hotel and ancillary apartments,shops etc. at such a lovely area of a lovely island. As stated there are enough empty and unfinished buildings already and to despoil this area would be CRIMINAL. Every effort must be made to make the planning Authorities see the folly of even considering such a proposal and must take the local Qala villagers and all Gozotan’s views on the subject and give it a THUMBS DOWN.
Please keep Gozo as Gozo we all know.
Hondoq is a nice little place, but as most things must move on with the times, a yacht marina and a nice hotel will bring much needed employment in the area, take a leaf from Malta ie., Tax-xbiex and Senglea they are now all up market, Hondoq is nice just a small b ay weith nothing else to offer except bathing.
Mr Downie,you are not the only one with these sort of comments .
I totally and fully agree with you.As a tourist I am fed up with this sort of speculative ideas that only suits the rich .
Hondoq is a necessity for all of us to enjoy
We have spent the last thirteen years travelling to Gozo for our annual holiday and always spend many hours swimming in Hondoq; since joining the EU there has been so noticable changes such as the condition of the roads; and now the old buses have been replaced; changes I am sure are all for for the good of the people of this lovely island; however the soul of this country will be destroyed if places like Hondoq are changed; if we wanted the big commercialised Marina’s then we would go to the south of France or Marbella but we don’t because we want to be in Gozo, maybe for once we should forget about change for change sake forget about money and profit and just keep this jewel as part of the heart beat of this beautiful island.
Taf x’jigri xhin jehodha il-privat, bhal ma gara z-Zewwieqa gewwa l-Imgarr Gozo wahhlu kullimkien tabelli ‘no swimming’ kemm ila li l-marina ghaddiet ghad il-privat, u bil-BARKA tat-3 ambaxxaturi li ghandna fil-parlament jirrapprezentawn(suppost) hadt ma qabez ghal din il-ftit bajja li kien igawdija kulhadd.ADDIJO ZEWWIEQA LI TANT KONT TILQA NIES JGHUMU FIS-SAJf
Thanks ‘swim’ for your lovely comment. I agree with you 100%.
Sorry my Maltese in writing is not so fluent.
Save Malta and get out of the EU before its too late!
I have read somthing about the expensis that will cost to bult a tunnel from Gozo to
Malta ,plus the water pipe line to deliver water from Gozo to Malta,? perhaps you
would be happy to drink the taste of rusty water that we are paying for importing this
quality of drinking which eventually ,will form a clinker inside our bodies and harm
our intestines ,and spend our money on hospital care .
Just been to Hondoq and it`s already Jam Packed.
Where shall we all go if that monster be given the thumbs up? In a pool?
Mepa Board when this application comes in front of you read carefully what the EPD concluded and don`t give the green light and issue a big NO so all of us can rest our minds for generations to come
We are frequently visitors on Gozo and love the island very much. This is the first time I hear about this little jewel and plan to go there iff we come on october. I read all comments and it touches me all the warm feelings people have for this place.
I totally agree with the protests made here. In the weekends we see local famelies enjoying there free time and can see the symplicity of that all. And this symplicity is what Gozo makes unique! I understand the need of income ofcourse, but think more, maybe something else pops up to make money?
Gozo for the locals, not heavy tourisme!
Lizie and Ramses from the Netherlands.
I was reading the Gozo & Malta news from the Internet,and there was the number
of people that travel weekly between ,back and forth on the weekly bases,and I was
amazed ,106,500 travelled on the ferries ,and there seem to be an increase of more
and more !!This is the answer to the comment that was made on this new project
of a new tunnel and a pipe line to deliver the large quontity of water of rain being run-
off from Qala and being discharged into the Hondoq “s Bay wasted fresh water.
The question was ? where is the money coming ? when Malta import water we
pay for it ,when we travel on ferries ,we pay the fare and the same when we go to
Malta or Gozo through the famous MALTESE & GOZO TUNNEL.
@ Emmanuel Magro Dr Said is talking about the tunnel while we are making the terminal for Cirkewa .What is going to happen to Cirkewa terminal if the tunnel starts operating ?Let it run down like the Gozo heliport????
Well this current government always goes by management by crises.If they wanted to do things right long time ago they should have seen if a tunnel is the right answer ,and not now built two terminals plus three wonderful ships and then we start thinking of a tunnel
If we need a tunnel we should have discussed this at least twenty years ago Dr Said
The process is rotten to the bone.
In the past I was told to read certain verses of the Bible because I have sinned when
I said Malta have engineers that are cabable of cutting solid rocks and builting with
steel and concreate ,he said that I am destroying God”s nature!!!President Kennedy
said ,its not what your country can do for you,but it is what you can do for the country !
AMEN
Hondoq would carry the maximum sin to all those that will destroy it Mr Magro
.
Today people are not afraid of sins they are more worried how much money they can make ,no matter how much suffering they will create.
Hope that common sense will prevail
Shame shame shame on those who are preparing the destruction of Hondoq ……..just hoping and praying that someone will step up and STOP this Sin ,all thats needed is a litlle common sense
Hondoq is my favourite spot and it brings me very happy memories of when me and my wife used to go there swimming before we got married so long ago !!!!!!
Let`s all do what ever we can so it will remain the same as it has been
I was chekking the news on another site and there was an article about the Minister of GOZO, GIOVANNA DEBONO,that she is helping the Konsell of Qala the nice sum of money of 67,690 EURO, to encourage thr old FOLK SONGS. The only entertainment we had we were growing up, in-NAMRU WAS THE LEADER, to gather us and go into a WINE SHOP and spend the evening singing FOLK SONGS
and drinking wine I want to thank the Minister of Gozo, GIOVANNA DEBONO for her good intentions!!! Sorry that I had to use this space ,but it is better than no thanks at all!!!!!!
wake up people our young need a job
Lino,
i agree with you 100% that our young need a job.
However to create jobs one does not need to destroy a beautiful place like Hondoq. Jobs can be created for our young especially in the IT industry and will only need a very small space.
What type of jobs do you think the Hondoq project will create??? I can answer for you. CLEANERS..
And what happens when the project is finished?? We will all be crying for what we have lost.
Haven’t we lost enough in Gozo?? And how many jobs have been created?
Do not do what Joseph Xerri told you to do ,because his father never been
educated but he gave his son to get an education and become Dr.joseph Xerri,his
father always used to us when we were only children , ( DO NOT GO INTO MY TREE,
BECAUSE THERE THE GOST IN THERE. ) so we used some one els”s tree,and
the GOST PROTECTED fruit will last Joseph”s Xerri much longer. !!!!!
I was brousing around the Beauty of Hondoq and at the introduction view ,the
picture is shaped as a monster “s big huge head with a the mouth open
with the both jaws loaded with teeth ,and a motor boat that just came out of
mouth ,and headding towered iz-Zewweqa,is there any of you out there that
could immagene the interpretion of this fantasy !!!!!!!!