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Is development at Hondoq a sustainable and beneficial proposal?
for…The Hondoq ir-Rummien development is a project which is being proposed entirely on privately-owned land, currently an abandoned quarry in a totally dilapidated state. The area is an environmental blemish visible from miles away at sea and the beach itself.
From information which the Gozo Business Chamber has managed to gather it transpires that in the 2002 draft local plan and in the latest local plan, that of the 3 August 2006, each plan has identified this area as in desperate need of rehabilitation. It clearly states that this area can be utilized for tourism and marine related uses. It also recognizes the fact that certain mineral resources can still be excavated from the site as long as the current eyesore is not allowed to get even worse.
The present developers of this piece of land have come up with several plans for the area which have come under the microscopic attention of MEPA. MEPA have asked the developers to change the original plans many times over in order to create an environmentally acceptable project which can be sustainable in the longer term. Hopefully this would create the much needed job creation for Gozo and the Gozitans. From calculations that the developers have come up with, it is being calculated that a substantial amount of lon-term jobs will be created in the process. According to the latest plans being submitted, the marina which is being proposed will have practically no impact on the beach which is currently being used by bathers. If the marina is also made fully accessible to the general public then most probably it will provide a very suitable alternative to the people who used to visit Mgarr Harbour for their Sunday outing.
One other important factor which this project can bring with it is the fact that the new marina will be able to take a substantial amount of boats which currently are overcrowding Mgarr Harbour. With the current congestion of the harbour with Gozo Channel ferries, yachts, fishermen boats and other private crafts trying to manoeuvre in the restricted space of Mgarr, it would be a relief to be able to shift some of these to the new facilities. Apart from this it can also attract new maritime business which is currently being lost due to the lack of available space at Mgarr.
As a Chamber of Commerce we are in favour of new projects on Gozo as long as they are sustainable in the long term, create jobs and are environmentally friendly. In our opinion the proposed project has the required justified criteria.
Joseph Grech is CEO of the Gozo Business Chamber
against…The proposals for Hondoq ir-Rummien are part of an ongoing subtle ‘privatisation’ of the coast – one must consider these proposals within the context of the Portomaso and Hola Beach developments, the caravans at Gnejna and Bahar ic-Caghaq, the proposed yacht marinas at Xemxija and Marsascala, the boathouses peppering L-Ahrax, Gnejna and Dahlet Qorrot, proposals for the ‘private’ beach at Mgarr ix-Xini, the gung-ho bullies organising parties at Golden Bay and the numerous beach concessions at Ghadira and Armier, which are all elbowing Joe Citizen away from the coast.
One can condense the kaleidoscope of reasons for objecting to these proposals into the following cardinal themes: marine ecology, hydrodynamics, socio-economics. Nature Trust and environmentalists in general are concerned that no lessons seem to have been learned from the Portomaso and Cirkewwa terminal project fiascos, since the same slipshod silt and stone material mitigation measures employed within such projects are being proposed for Hondoq ir-Rummien. Silt and other fine particles remain water-borne for a long period of time before settling on the bottom, reducing water visibility to a sliver and smothering species such as seagrasses and algae which depend on good water visibility.
In addition, antifouling paints used to keep yachts devoid of any barnacles and oils and fuel emanating from the same yachts contribute towards degrading the water quality at the only site in Gozo which affords bathing possibilities in strong NW winds. The project (via structures such as the breakwater) is postulated to alter once and for all the hydrodynamics (i.e. the dynamics of water currents) in the area, which dictate the rate of accretion or erosion of a beach, the recruitment (breeding) of many marine species, etc.
No conscientious environmentalist can turn his back on socio-economic arguments. From a social perspective, the residents of Qala are savvy about facing the prospects of trucks laden with 1 million square metres of high-quality hardstone, relaying up and down the road to Hondoq – this effectively means years of bearing up with bellowing clouds of dust and diesel fumes (and the road catering for such trucks has not yet been identified). Car park facilities are to be provided on site, but asking for such facilities to be free of charge is wishful thinking. The bungalows/villas of the multi-ownership genre being proposed within the project belong to the speculative cohort which has become the latest craze in Gozo (e.g. Ta’ Cenc proposals). Why drool so much on property development, especially targeted for foreigners, when many hotels in Gozo are changing skin to apartment blocks?
I can bet my last penny that the other side of the fence will dangle the employment carrot – i.e. flooring the hollow promise that the project is needed for the economy of the island of Gozo since it will employ hundreds of its alienated youth. Such promises evaporate into thin air as it soon dawns upon the public that long-term (i.e. not during the project development itself) quality employment provided by the project will be minimal. On another note, are there iron-clad assurances about the genre of employment available? Will vacancies for chambermaids, pontoon carers, etc only be up for grabs, and will these be granted to job-hungry Gozitans only?
Vince Attard is president of Nature Trust |
