In reaction to the vote which has been taken in Parliament today on the amended motion in regard to the extended hunting and trapping hours at Majjistral Park, BirdLife Malta said that it is “back to the status quo on environment that we had before 2004.”

In a statement the NGO accused both major political parties, “of not having the courage to put the national interest before that of their party.”

“Government speaks a lot about law and order, but to the contrary it employs an iron fist with the silent and the less powerful, whilst permitting a free-for-all situation with those who resort to loud and angry tactics” stated BirdLife Malta.

It added that in his speech in Parliament today, Minister Herrera showed that “he does not understand the true meaning of a national park and a Natura 2000 site.”

“While striking a balance is commendable, in a site such as Majjistral Park we need nature to be safeguarded and not biodiversity being destructed,” said BirdLife.

The NGO went onto say that, “we regret to note that Minister Herrera did not have the courage to state his own opinion but only repeated the decision taken by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.”

BLM stated that it was also disappointed that members of Parliament from the Nationalist Opposition benches “who agreed with BirdLife Malta’s position and that of other eNGOs in this particular case, did not have the courage to voice their opinions in front of PN leader Adrian Delia.”

The NGO concluded by saying that “it is a pity that today once again the two major political parties showed that they do not have the courage to put the national interest before that of their party with regards to environmental issues.”

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