[WATCH] Front Harsien ODZ insists on feasibility study for motorsports track

Activists call on Front to expand its focus to more general environmental concerns.

A new environmental authority that will be formed through a MEPA demerger must conduct a feasibility study on a proposed motorsports track, Front Harsien ODZ have insisted.

“The government is clearly tied down to pre-electoral commitments to construct the track, but we will insist that no part of it be constructed on land outside development zones,” FHO spokesperson Michael Briguglio told a public meeting in the Front’s Valletta offices to discuss the group’s future.

MaltaToday journalist James Debono said that, if built, the track shouldn’t be accompanied with speculative development as has been proposed in the government’s Expression of Interest.

“Given Malta’s size limitations, the government should have commissioned a study on the track’s feasibility before issuing its expression of interest,” he said. “Otherwise, we risk falling into a free for all situation, whereby everything is up for proposal. What if somebody now proposes an artificial mountain?”

The public meeting, held in the Front’s Strait Street offices, was attended by some 40 people - including representatives from environmental NGOs, a handful of PN councilors, TV presenter Salvu Mallia, and Alternattiva Demokratika chairperson Arnold Cassola.

Cassola was vocal in his rejection of the motorsports track proposal, arguing that Malta is simply to small to accommodate it.

“The track will incorporate 800,000 square metres and will definitely have to pass through ODZ land,” he said. “Malta is simply too small for a motorsports track.”

Terra Firma chairperson John Paul Cauchi argued that farmers in Siggiewi, the locality rumoured to be earmarked for the motor track, are worried about the impact of the proposed development on their business.

“Is this a government that listens or one that simply hears?” he questioned. “We must listen to the concerns of farmers and other residents on the ground, and make sure that their concerns are publicized.”

PN Marsaskala councilor John Camilleri questioned whether the track could actually incorporate part of Malta’s existing roads and be utilized as a race track for a few days a year, similar to the Monte Carlo track.

‘We have enough petrol stations’ – Cassola

The public discussion was also dominated by debate over the construction of petrol stations, in light of the recent proposal of three such proposed developments in ODZ land in Kirkop and St. Paul’s Bay.

Arnold Cassola’s stance was simple and straight to the point.

“Malta has enough petrol stations, and any new petrol station must substitute an existing one,” he said.

However, while Briguglio criticised the rate at which “ODZ petrol stations are mushrooming all over the place”, his successor as AD leader took a more sober approach. 

“Strange as it may sound, building an petrol in station in ODZ land is logical, for health reasons,” he said. “The problem is that a new government policy allows petrol stations in ODZ land to be built over 3,000 square metres, which simply opens the door to further development.”

James Debono warned that the controversial policy also permits the development of new petrol stations opposite industrial areas, which “could pose health dangers”.

Front urged to change name, expand its green focus

Debate also zoomed in on the existential future of the Front, that was originally set up earlier this year to oppose the construction of a private university at Zonqor Point but has since zeroed in on other environmental issues. Veteran environmentalist activists Edward Mallia and Alfred Baldacchino suggested that the Front change its name so as to reflect an expansion of its focus – from simply ODZ-related issues to more general environmental ones. 

“Will the Front congratulate the government if it decides to build the motorsports track, but not on ODZ land?” he questioned.

He also dismissed a call from philosophy lecturer Colette Sciberras for the Front to position itself as a movement in favour of “sustainable development”.

“Sustainable development has become too much of a buzzword, and I think we should find a new name behind the concept we want to rally behind,” he said.

However, a suggestion for the Front to organize itself as a federation for green NGOs was quickly shot down, with Briguglio insisting that the Front shouldn’t overlap and clash with the Terra Firma Collective.

Such suggestions were welcomed by Briguglio, who said that the movement’s name “was not set in stone” but that such a decision could only be taken after extensive discussion.

Academic and FHO spokesperson Shaun Grech hit out at critics who have dismissed the Front as a mere smokescreen for the Nationalist Party.

“Partisan politics is Malta’s plague – people who critcise the government are seen as part of the Oppositon’s internal mechanism.”

He urged those present to urge their environmental views on social media more extensively.

“It's just as how only racists comment on immigration articles, while the rest of us just complain amongst ourselves,” he said. “Social media is a powerful tool, as the [2011] divorce referendum had proved.”