PN urged to lay out environmental vision and commitments

If it wants to prove that the environment was truly a priority, the Nationalist Party should commit itself to policies that safeguard the environment, MaltaToday journalist Jurgen Balzan said.

“We are currently experiencing savage capitalism that will result in further destruction of the environment. What would the PN’s vision be, if elected? Does it want savage capitalism or does it want to retain its identity and respect Malta’s limitations?” Balzan said.

Balzan was taking part in the Nationalist Party’s general convention ‘idea ambjent’, in a discussion chaired by former PBS reporter Sergio Mallia.

The panel included Malta Independent on Sunday editor David Lindsay and agricultural expert Antoine Vella.

Environmentalists, PN MPs, former European Commissioner Tonio Borg and former permanent representative to the EU Richard Cachia Caruana were amongst those present.

Balzan argued that, by not giving environment the importance it deserves, the government was not reinventing the wheel. He reminded the general convention of the 2006 rationalisation plans that massacred the countryside.

He added that decisions taken whilst in government were the real test for any political party.

“Politicians can promise a lot of things while in opposition but are they ready to commit themselves and be held accountable? Like the recent PN’s commitments on good governance, the opposition should now make clear commitments on matters such as ODZ land and whether MEPA’s split will be retained. If elected to government, this would render it accountable.”

Balzan went on to add that the environment should be the foundation stone of any policy drafted.

On his part, Vella warned that political parties should be ready to lose votes if they wanted to give environment the importance it deserved. “It’s only if they stand up to them that political parties will stop being held to ransom by developers,” he added.

Encouraging citizens to join the green NGOs, Vella pointed out that the strength of NGOs was in its members.

Launching this evening’s session, architect Simone Vella Lenicker said that environmentalists were deeply concerned by the demerger of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority.

“The recently-approved SPED was equally criticized for its short-sightedness and inconsistency with other policies,” Vella Lenicker said.

She questioned whether it truly protected open spaces and the rural environment.