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How deeply disturbing it was to read the comments of Environment Minister George Pullicino on issues relating to development zones, Ta’ Cenc, and golf courses.
The Minister reserved his most cynical comments for Marisa Micallef’s call for the entire Ta’ Cenc area to be protected as part of the European Natura 2000 network. Mr Pullicino asked if she had scientific data to back her calls. She does not, and the Minister knows it. He knows it because, despite the area’s unique importance, a thorough scientific study does not exist. Is the absence of scientific data now going to be used by politicians as an excuse to support development in rural areas? Is this the latest political weapon to be used to ridicule and defeat environmentalists? If this is the case, then environmentalists are in for a rough ride. There is a lack of data on virtually everything and anything relating to the environment in Malta. No wonder the Minister was so chipper.
Just as worryingly, Mr Pullicino has re-exhumed the golf course debate. What is this bizarre obsession with golf? Why has it become part of Maltese political ideology? The economic benefits are un-proven and the ecological catastrophe they inflict on arid Mediterranean countries is well documented. Despite this, we live in a country where, of all people, the Minster of the Environment (and Agriculture) is the politician charged with trying to shove the cretinous idea down our throats. After a generation in charge, can’t the government come up with something that makes sense for our tourist industry? Golf? Championed by The Minister of the Environment? It is surreal.
Golf courses in Malta would be bad investments and ecological disasters. They will not make money on their own. Their contribution to the economy, by way of increased tourism, will be minimal. They are about as environmentally sustainable as open-air ice-rinks in the Sahara. The true value of golf is in the real estate that will inevitably spring-up around the greens and the fairways. Golf courses are just another bonanza for the construction industry and property speculators. We all know it. The Minister of the Environment knows it, yet continues to champion the idea. He also continues to make occasional speeches about sustainable development.
Mark Grima
St Julians
Editorial note: Scientific studies on Ta’ Cenc exist and they should encourage the Minister of Environment to declare the whole area of Ta’ Cenc a Natura 2000 site
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