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Michaela Muscat
Environment Minister George Pullicino’s pledge that spring hunting will never be banned by his government, raised eyebrows since it was uttered during the opening of BirdLife Malta’s Pwales Nature reserve.
Yet Joe Mangion, the President of BirdLife Malta, reacted in a noncommittal way to the dubious comment by the minister: “it’s up to journalistic license, I will stick to the principles of the issue.”
Mangion changed tack when discussing the implications of Pullicino’s comments. “The minister was simply referring to a comment that I had just made about our organisation striving for a ban on spring hunting. We firmly believe that it is a matter of when not if spring hunting in Malta will be banned,” says Mangion.
BirdLife are sure that irrespective of what the government officials say, the EU’s Bird Directive “is crystal clear that hunting taking place whilst birds are nesting, or on their way to their breeding grounds is not allowed.”
They also reiterate what they have been constantly declaring since Malta joined the EU in 2003. Apart from the derogation not being subject to negotiation, conspicuous by it’s absence in the negotiation document, the Maltese Law is not in sync with the directive. Citing article 9 of the directive which allows for a derogation from the law, Mangion says there is “no mechanism in Maltese law for a derogation and even if this derogation was included in Maltese law, we are sure that under no circumstance it can be applied.”
mmuscat@mediatoday.com.mt
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