‘What would Julian Manduca have said?’

In April 2005, new planning rules allowed penthouses to be built on three-storey apartments, or as ‘set-back’ third floors on small houses inside Maltese towns’ inner cores. 

MaltaToday journalist Julian Manduca would not buy the hype from environment minister George Pullicino that this would save the countryside. “It’s the beginning of a full-scale onslaught on our towns,” he told me over lunch. “Wait and see.” 

Julian foresaw as much. In a piece penned before his untimely death at 45 on 17 May, 2005, he gazed into the crystal ball for the last time: “it would seem the construction industry is in for a field day: more construction in urban areas, more dust, noise and disturbance that assures Malta remains in a ‘not ready’ state.” 

Malta still remains ‘not ready’. A year after his death, an infamous extension of building boundaries and new local plans triggered a building frenzy which saw 37,540 new dwellings approved in four years between 2004 and 2007. The onslaught continued when Labour was elected, which tinkered with height policies. And in just four years between 2016 and 2019, the PA approved another 41,884 permits for new dwellings. 

In the difficult months after Julian passed away, I struggled to keep up with these new developments. Julian’s foresight, passion and ability to smell a rat remained the gold standard to which the newsroom aspired. For he was also the pioneer of environmental journalism, but with a nose for foul business activities, such as the Priceclub fiasco – his mission was to hold the business and political class to account; he was irreverent, yet respectful, always willing to speak to everyone; biased surely, but always fair, never relying on exaggerations or scaremongering. 

A coalition builder 

Julian did not just predict disaster: he was part of the solution, working tirelessly to build broad alliances on land issues, from the demolition of Sliema houses to protesting the temporary landfill near the Mnajdra temples. 

In the 1980s he set up a federation of environmental groups, Zghazagh ghall-Ambjent. Atypical of conservationists, it had the vibrancy of a protest movement ready to challenge authority head-on. Julian mobilised activists at a time that lacked the urgency of social media appeals; his specialty was printing leaflets, preparing banners and stunts inside Zghazagh’s Melita Street office in Valletta, a hub of social activity and radicalism. 

Yet Julian also excelled in negotiation, being pivotal in the campaign against the Verdala golf course, thanks to his communication skills with farmers, businesspersons, men of the cloth and politicians from all sides. And unlike others of his generation, he did not shun radical activists from Graffitti with whom he felt very much at home, ideologically and in his lifestyle. 

As a pragmatist, he would join the Hilton hunger strike outside Castillle but he opened a channel of dialogue with the Ombudsman, a step that led to a concrete achievement: a change of law requiring parliamentary approval whenever public land is passed to private interests. In his own words, a campaign always needed an end game. And in this sense his legacy is alive and kicking, best preserved in Moviment Graffitti’s inclusive campaigns, embracing both direct action and wide alliances with key figures in local communities. 

A younger Julian Manduca, his recognisable teashade glasses a trademark of his look

Well before the creation of Alternattiva Demokratika, which he helped found in 1989, he was one of the promoters of green politics in Malta, knowing that ultimately political change is necessary. But he kept his distance from direct political engagement, often expressing frustration at AD’s moderate stances on civil liberties. He preferred to build coalitions than electioneering.  

A radical who talked to everyone 

To Julian, environmentalism was not simply nature protection but an integral part of a holistic vision of social justice, rooted in a left-wing critique of capitalism and consumerism. Socially liberal, he was deeply spiritual in his rejection of the culture of waste. Influenced by the Beats and the counter-culture of the 1960s and 1970s, he articulated a ‘new left’ discourse from the scenes he loved in Hamburg and Berlin, which aspired to a freer and more equal society. With that came his passion for life, dedicating himself to voluntary work, playing football, organising the film club at the University of Malta, and holding court at City of London”. 

Certainly he would been proud of Labour’s delivery on civil liberties in 2013 and the emergence of a pro-choice lobby, which he would have definitely supported. Abortion was one issue which frustrated him, especially because it had remained a taboo even among progressive circles. But his commitment went beyond civil liberties. He was an advocate of universal basic income; despite his own bourgeois background (and education) he questioned private schools and the social segregation they bring about; his ability to speak across class and gender boundaries was one of his most remarkable traits, charming people and keeping them at ease without being deceptive; and even when speaking truth to power, he taught us that activism could be fun, with themed fundraisers like the “Fuck The Airstrip Party” during the Gozo airstrip debacle of 1996. 

Indeed Julian died well before his ideas came of age, but he laid out the groundwork for subsequent generations. That is why every time we grapple with a new threat to the environment or governance, the question “what would have Julian thought and done about this” always crops up. 

One true friend of the Earth, by Martin Galea De Giovanni (Friends of the Earth)

‘Ic-Choppy’ was truly one of a kind. We met in the late 1990s while he was busy organising a waste-related event at the University campus for which I had offered to help out with some logistics. He was an inspiration to so many people – I still get people come up to me from all corners of the world to let me know that they either knew Julian or supported Friends of the Earth Malta at some point in their 
life – some with fascinating anecdotes and memories. 

He never minded being branded as some green warrior, as his convictions were always as fierce as his relentless search for the truth later on as a journalist. In 1985 he was instrumental in setting up the federation of environmental groups called Żgħażagħ għall-Ambjent which later became 
part of the Friends of the Earth International network. 

Our recently established Julian Manduca Green Resource Centre in Floriana, aims to serve as a legacy and inspiration to generations to come. I consider our current incessant work, safeguarding open spaces, promoting local agriculture, tackling the waste and climate issues, to mention a few that Julian was very passionate about, as a way of celebrating this true friend of the Earth.