Nature Trust (Malta) notes with some satisfaction the obvious interest that the environment and environment-related issues are generating amongst prospective MEPs. It is clearly evident that local NGOs need all the assistance they can get on a political level in defending the environment. With a more sensible and pro-active approach, NTM is convinced that most problems would be eliminated.

So far NTM has met a number of candidates for the MEP elections, namely candidates Roberta Tedesco Triccas and Alan Deidun from the PN side and with Arnold Cassola and Yvonne Ebejer Arqueros from the AD side. A meeting is soon to be held with Steve Borg from the PL side. So far NTM feels that it has received a positive feedback from all it has met and hopes that all will keep working for our natural heritage.

NTM’s message to all environmentally-conscious Maltese and Gozitan citizens is to support those candidates who have proven by concrete means and continue to consistently prove that they are capable of putting the environment first where it matters most, even if they have to break party lines to do so. The NGO emphasizes its policies in favour of substituting plastic with glass, curtailing over-fishing and giving adequate protection to all endangered land and marine fauna and flora.

Moreover, NTM and its members strongly encourage all candidates to intervene and do their utmost in order to resolve long-standing obstacles which currently plague all environment NGOs, such as excessively late payments by Government, institutionalised partisan-oriented meddling in projects, a war mentality against NGOs on the part of certain administrative agencies as well as an inadequate – and up to a few weeks ago virtually inexistent – lack of commitment by government to assist NGOs in their capacity-building efforts in line with the recommended EU policies for voluntary NGOs.

NTM believes that, as prospective EU Parliamentarians, all candidates should induce the powers-that-be to finally ensure that the necessary funds are made available for up-to-date training of volunteers and other personnel active within Maltese environment organisations, as well as to assist the NGOs themselves in shouldering the tremendous financial burdens that large EU environmental projects place upon them. If action is not taken soon, the effectiveness of Maltese civil society’s participation in the various EU environmental fora as well as local NGOs’ ability to draw much-needed environment protection funding to the Islands will continue to be seriously undermined, and eventually be completely sabotaged.

Therefore, NTM will be leaving the choice of candidate to its members, confident that they as well as the members of the other major environment NGOs are mature enough to work the matter out for themselves. It will thus be the many persons with hands-on experience of the local environment and not NTM who, armed with their environment-sensitive weighing scales, shall be judging all the candidates in the forthcoming electoral contest to see who is found lacking.

Nature Trust (Malta)

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