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Government wants to build a residential golf course in Xaghra l-Hamra at Manikata. The Labour Party does not agree and is proposing that the Maghtab landfill be converted into a golf course. A golf course at Xaghra l-Hamra is just a fig leaf to cover the naked property speculation that is being planned to destroy one of the few remaining garigues in our overbuilt island.
In the United States the Environment Protection Agency is spending millions of dollars in a programme aimed at the redevelopment of America’s 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites. Redevelopment approaches have included the conversion of landfills to golf courses. The program provides funding incentives, feasibility tools, and individual grants up to USD1 million to help states, tribes, communities, and other organisations prevent, assess, safely clean up, and reuse brownfields.
Golfers visiting Atlanta are encouraged to play 18 holes of golf at the Blue Heron Golf Course. This golf course looks and plays the same as any other of the numerous golf courses located in metropolitan Atlanta, with one major exception. It is located on top of the closed Morgan Falls Landfill and has been open to the public since mid-2003. The landfill closure (engineered cap of compacted soil and vegetative cover) was performed in 1997, and approved by the state regulatory agency in 1998.
The site is now in a six-year post-closure care program. Activities continuing under the post-closure care program include a recycling facility, a golf driving range, an 18-hole executive golf course, a groundwater monitoring system, methane monitoring system, and a landfill gas collection and control system. Although Fulton County has retained ownership of the site, the use of the property was transferred to the private developer through a long-term lease agreement. Fulton County retains responsibility and liability for continuing environmental compliance and post-closure care. Fulton County receives lease payments and a percentage of the revenue based on the profitability of the golf course.
Landfill sites have historically been left undisturbed as closed, or otherwise unusable, properties by isolating or other risk minimisation techniques. While other communities struggle with the use and loss of land to solid waste landfills, Fulton County has transformed one closed landfill site into a valuable and beautiful recreation area. The former Morgan Falls Landfill site is a success story of how an undesirable landfill site can be transformed into a viable secondary land use such as a golf course.
The International Herald Tribune (30 September 2005) reported how ‘speculators around the world are driving the construction of residential golf course projects far more than they did in the past. "It's a slightly more scary market," said Muriel Muirden, managing director of the Europe, Africa and the Middle East region for Economics Research Associates. "No one is sure who the ultimate end users will be."
The US newspaper explained ‘While golf continues to grow in popularity, it is the demand for golf course villas powering the construction boom more than any form of golf hysteria. "Without a residential component, you can forget about a project," said Peter Michel Heilmann, founder of Athens-based INVgolf, which organises industry events and research projects. "The golf course itself rarely makes money." In South Africa most golf communities cater primarily to locals, but about 50 percent of Pezula's buyers are a hodgepodge of Europeans, Asians and Americans – and only about 25 percent play golf, Stewart said, adding, "Golf is not the center of the business. It is just one of the amenities."
"Everybody is building nice courses," Spencer said. So to stand out, "the courses must be presented in a manner that they will be 'must-try' courses." David Spencer's company is spending millions to build golf courses designed by Greg Norman and Vijay Singh in Dubai, even though he knows the majority of his customers will never set foot on a tee.’
The IHT articles stresses ‘Only about 30 percent of the people who buy homes along the greens are likely to play golf, "but they are very pleased to have Greg Norman landscape their backyard," said Spencer, director of Nakheel Golf, which is building the Jumeirah Golf Estates, a 1,119-hectare, or 2,765 acre, golf and residential development outside Dubai's city centre. Non-golfers who crave the fairway lifestyle are fuelling a wave of luxury residential golf construction around the world. In countries such as Dubai, South Korea, Turkey, Egypt and Poland, golf courses are the centrepieces of elaborate new communities offering a wide array of non-golf amenities, from polo fields and access to private jets to home delivery of groceries.’
Jes Grixti
Jesmond Grixti’s life philosophy is inspired by Calvin Coolidge’s statement that: ‘Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent≠.
Where does his deep love for music come from? Jes does not hesitate. “It has to come from inside. It is like sexual attraction that drives you towards a particular person.” His earliest influences came from the Church organist of his village where as an eager young boy he would sit close to the organist and would hum along with the melody sometimes even breaking out in goosebumps. His father played saxophone and clarinet and his grandfather played percussion instruments. Jes studied various instruments from a young age, but it was composition and the ability to ‘inven’ that stole his heart. Jes went on to formalise his passion by completing tertiary studies in Europe and Australia and is currently finalising his Doctorate (PhD) in Composition at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Upon conferral it will be the first such Doctorate to be awarded to a Maltese Composer. Further to this, Jes has been invited as a visiting Fellow at the Indiana University, United State of America.
When composing Jes feels like Friedrich Nitzsche that ‘One has to get rid of the bad taste of wanting to be in agreement with many’. As William Shakespeare said ‘Speak what you feel not what we ought to say’.
But this does not cut him off arrogantly from his audience. He explains: “The audience is made up of ‘real people’ and are part of the scenario of the musical journey, yet this must be delicately balanced with the artistry, integrity and originality of the composer who acts as the social barometer of time, place and events.”
The cycle is inspired by Maltese folk music and draws upon major religious calendar festas celebrated on the island of Malta together with historic events. Jes fuses, explores and intertwines these events and provides a window into the unique fabric, folklore and rhythm of the Maltese way of life. Jes is intensely proud of his Maltese ancestry and heritage which imparts a matchless voice on the modern compositional landscape without degenerating into kitschy folklore. He thinks that the ‘Maltese musical scene’ is in many ways a ‘work in progress’. “We possess a rich musical heritage of various forms however, at this point in time, as a nation we have not unlocked this potential to its fullest extreme to engender ongoing development and progression.
I would welcome any initiatives that would see the musical scene prosper at all levels, for example, the inclusion of comprehensive musical education and choice from an early age (ex Performing Arts/Conservatorium of Music schools); introducing a full and autonomous Faculty of Music at the University of Malta to encompass the hierarchy of musical professionals (including composers, conductors, musicologists, performers and therapists); augmenting the already established jazz and folk festivals in Malta by introducing further musical activities of various genres including organising international seminars, workshops and an International Summer Music school.
Finally, it is of vital importance to preserve and conserve our existing musical heritage for future generations.
evaristbartolo@hotmail.com
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