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Learning a lesson from Kalkara
valley
From
Ian Campbell, St George’s
We
walked over the remaining areas of the valley not covered in housing.
We met several groups of people mostly Maltese who like us wanted
to see for themselves what the controversy was about.
What we saw was a valley almost covered in concrete, with clear
signs that the remaining open spaces were being prepared for development,
with or without permission.
From the green spaces left, some were cultivated, some were groves
of carob trees in a damp green valley, not dried out, not dusty
but an oasis of calm in a bustling area.
When we looked up from the waterfront we saw in the villas along
from Triq Progess an example of clear insensitivity in development.
Who gave planning permission for these villas to be built there?
As they stand they completely destroy the drama of the bastions.
They might as well have demolished the bastion while they were
at it. On the sea front towards the still standing (only just)
lift tower to Kalkara hospital itself - a most imposing structure
- buildings of outstanding merit are being allowed to fall into
decay helped by strategic stone robbing to extend the hardstanding
for the winter storage of large vessels.
From this quay we saw how the development of the area separating
Fort St Angelo from Birgu is destroying the ditch with small-scale
large volume building which appears to have no sympathy with the
surroundings. This whole part of the Maritime Quay development
should be stopped while it could still be made to be more in keeping
with its surroundings. No one wants another disaster like the
shell hotel in between the bastions on the north of Floriana.
The philosophy behind these developments was made absolutely clear
when Tourism Minister Michael Refalo said "development in
this sector and all that is authorised should be of benefit to
the tourism industry and whoever invests in it".
What about the customer? In these days every business person should
realise that the mantra is that "the customer is king".
Which tourist comes to stumble over heaps of rubble, which tourist
comes on holiday to walk on black tarmac streets, the same as
they are used to at home? Which tourist travels thousands of miles
to see a replica of all the shops they use at home, shops selling
the same goods at higher prices?
Malta should recognise that people who live in very crowded buildings
need spaces of green shaded peace and quiet. Children need space
to be children, where they can escape constant supervision by
adults.
There are very few such spaces left, as such they should be sacrosanct.
The remaining green areas close to the south of the three cities,
to the north of Valletta, Wied Balluta, Wied Ghomer, Wied Molx,
the gardens of Villa Rosa which are gems in themselves, are irreplaceable
and are being destroyed on a daily basis. Any government which
pretends to care for all the people, should be aware that future
generations will curse them for the conditions in which they will
be forced to live.
Nationalist MP Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici in his statement shows exactly
why planning can be so ineffective on Malta. Saying that the real
valley was destroyed years ago so hurry up and destroy what is
left and adding that the area identified as being of scientific
importance has been completely preserved is rubbish. The area
preserved, as in the case of other areas which have been so-called
preserved, will be so small and isolated by building and so worn
out that the next stage will be to say that this area is no longer
of scientific importance. Then follows the line why not build
on it and cover it with concrete as it has become so wild and
untidy?
He should be impressed that not all the signatures are from Kalkara.
People are taking an interest, and considering the Island of Malta
as a whole.
Acting in absolute good faith are unfortunate words which will
return to haunt him.
Argentina
in the Mediterranean or alternatives
From
Raymond Sammut
Rather
than the misnomer of ‘Switzerland in the Mediterranean’,
which is an aspired Utopian condition unattainable by the likes
of us, I think that the term ‘Argentina in the Mediterranean’
would be more appropriate and consistent with our current state
of affairs.
Like Argentina, we have also been overwhelmingly burdened with
debt to such an extent that there seems to be no end to this vicious
cycle of borrowing. The only difference being that most of Argentina's
debt had been provided by foreign sources whilst ours have been
mostly provided by the gullible Maltese faithful and the local
financial institutions.
Rampant corruption has been said to be one of the main reasons
for Argentina's misfortune. In a similar vein in Malta, accusations
of corruption have been numerous from both political parties to
each other, some even substantiated, and a few arraigned in court.
Yet none of the people's representatives has ever been convicted
or imprisoned. To ensure that such a calamity never befalls them,
our parliamentarians enacted loopholes, such as expiry of corruption
cases by prescription, whilst the judicial process is advantageously
slow. And whenever our people's representatives are re-elected,
they compliment each other by awarding themselves considerably
high salary increases and substantial increases to their pensions
much higher than that allowed for the ordinary citizen so that
they can retire in peace and live happily ever after. Never mind
the debt burden or the large hole in our finances; let the people
solve it through additional taxes.
Sooner or later, like Argentina, our debt bubble will also burst
(as in the cases of the technology, and Internet bubbles), and
many fingers will be burnt. The gullible Maltese investors will
be led like sheep to the slaughterhouse, the debt burden will
be blamed on the Maltese citizens for not paying enough taxes,
for tax evasion, for claiming too many social benefits and for
too many infrastructure projects (a considerable number of which
were just a waste of people's taxes).
If both political parties are unhappy with my suggestion of labelling
Malta ‘Argentina in the Mediterranean’, then the other
alternatives would be either ‘Mickey Mouse County’ as
coined by a popular DJ or ‘Banana Republic’.
Daphne’s
motives
From
S. Woods
It
is strange how living in a democratic country we still come across
violence, obscenities and aggression. I am referring to Daphne's
writing in which she devoted a number of articles to Mrs Azzopardi,
a Polish national. I was particularly curious as to why there
was so much interest.
Last week I was in Valletta and Mrs Isabelle Azzopardi was walking
in front of me. I was surprised how many people called out 'stay
strong’, or how many people stopped her and spoke to her.
Some of them spoke in Maltese and she answered in Maltese. Further
down the street I came face to face with Isabelle and saw her
natural blonde hair, her natural blonde eyebrows and her natural
white skin. And suddenly I understood everything.
It was Daphne’s jealousy talking - a woman’s envy towards
another has no limits!
I was surprised that the editor didn’t take her to task over
her nastiness - what about the newspaper's prestige?
Isabelle on the other hand is not bothered about that. She is
not interested in the media, especially some hysterical gossip-mongerer.
Isabelle has the typical behaviour of a victim: silent and persistent.
And I understand her. Probably, she will not even read this letter.
I admire her courage and strength. She is consistent and determined.
Her story never changed either. His story changed at least four
or five times. And even a columnist who cannot make it more obvious
who she cares about can’t change that.
A
page of flying colours
From
Philip M. Bonello, Paola
Now
that Mr David Pace has shown his true colours his page should
be re-named RED-WATCH
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