Comino: expect more direct action, Graffitti warns in letter to ministers

Moviment Graffitti has thrown down the gauntlet on Labour’s inaction over the state of Comino island and continued privateering, saying it would plan more direct actions such as its ‘deckchair’ revolt to reclaim the public coastline.

In a second letter sent to five ministers – those of tourism, of Gozo, of the environment, of lands, and of planning – Graffitti said it had not received any response to the first letter that was sent on June 6.

“We expressed our regret that since then, the situation has remained completely unacceptable. In the absence of action from the authorities, Moviment Graffitti has warned that it is ready to take direct action again to ensure that Comino is enjoyed by everyone, and its natural environment is protected.”

Graffitti says Comino is under attack by intensive commercial interests that have taken over the beach, not only deckchairs and umbrellas, but also large boats, such as catamarans, that pour in hundreds of tourists, and the exaggerated number of large kiosks that create unsustainable waste and noise.

“Not only was this concern not recognised, but also regarding the deckchairs and umbrellas, the situation has hardly improved. When we visited Comino a few days ago, we found that only the few deckchairs on the small sandy part of the beach had been removed, while the rest of the area – on the quay, the walkway, and the other small beach – was still covered in empty deckchairs and umbrellas from early morning,” Graffitti said.

The group is demanding that: deckchairs and umbrellas are only set up at the request of a person physically present on the spot, and at not time should occupy more than 30% of the entire area of the Blue Lagoon; prohibition of big boats taking in hundreds of tourists in one trip; limiting the island’s kiosks to two, without music, in the Blue Lagoon; a limit on the type and amount of generated waste, which is then collected every day in the evening, so that the rats that are doing great damage to the natural environment do not continue to multiply.

The group also accused tourism minister Clayton Bartolo of refusing to tackle the situation or answer to PQs on the work of a committee tasked with the island’s management plan. “Everything indicates that this committee – which was set up in 2017 to evaluate the Comino Management Plan of 2016, among other things – currently does not exist,” Graffitti said.

Directions given in the original management plan have in fact remained on the shelf for six years “in order not to slight the commercial interests that have hijacked this natural reserve,” Graffitti said.