At a press conference in Marsaskala, ADPD – The Green Party spokespersons insisted that the unbridled development taking place in this and other localities should be curtailed immediately in order not to worsen the state of urban zones that many are no longer liveable. They were referring to development permit statistics published earlier this week that list more than 2,000 permits issued in the last quarter of last year, with Marsaskala topping that list with more than 200 permits, most of which for apartments. The total number of permits issued represent an increase of 30% over the same quarter the previous year.
ADPD – The Green Party Public Relations Officer and Marsaskala resident Brian Decelis said that many of these applications are being made thanks to the rationalisation exercise of 2006 when large swathes of land that until then were considered outside of the development zone were slated for development.
This exercise had not included any environmental impact studies. In particular the cumulative impact of the proposed development had not been considered and the EU SEA (Strategic Environment Assessment) directive – that came into force a few days after the Maltese Parliament approved the rationalisation exercise – had been completed ignored!
Decelis questioned whether we need this large scale of development: “Why do we need to destroy every piece of land that speculators lay their hands on?” While this exercise had been approved by the Nationalist Government, one would have expected a Labour Government that claims it is in favour of open spaces and that it strives for a better quality of life to reverse the rationalisation immediately and that undeveloped land is protected once again.
As in the case of the marina project that one hopes has been shelved once and for all, following the public pressure by civil society, there is the need that this building frenzy madness is stopped immediately. We hope that the embellishment of the promenade along the coast, announced on the eve of the last election, is carried out at the earliest to provide a source of relaxation and pleasure to the residents and visitors to this locality. There is also the need for curtailing the commercialization of public spaces along the coast, including on pavements, concluded Decelis.
ADPD – The Green Party Chairperson Carmel Cacopardo said that development in residential zones should prioritize the quality of life of the residents that already live in those localities. What is happening in Marsaskala is being carried out in other localities as indicated by the statistics published this week about the applications for new building permits.
In a wider context, the lack of proper land use planning has plagued Malta for many years. Too much land has been developed: including a lot of arable land, as well as gardens and public spaces. We are duty bound to ensure that this is stopped. As a consequence, Malta – and to a certain extent even Gozo – has become one continuous mass of buildings. The destruction continues.
One of the problems resulting from this unbridled development is the flooding that occurs in many localities, as we have seen as recently as earlier on this month when we had that massive storm. Fields that used to soak up rainwater for it to seep through and accumulate in the water table have been destroyed. More rainwater is ending up on our roads flooding all those who live in low lying areas, also thanks to the facts that cisterns and wells have become rare. As a consequence our roads are flooded and sewage overflows especially with heavy rainfall.
If we want to reduce traffic from our roads there is also the need for our urban zones to be autosufficient: this would reduce the need for private vehicle use. However, small retail outlets in our towns have been driven out of business by large commercial centres and supermarkets – all encouraged by our land use planning policies.
It is useless to make lovely declarations on the value of agricultural land – as we read in the Agricultural Land Reform document – when the destruction of such land continues at an accelerated pace – and this with the blessing of the Planning Authority that continuously values the land based on the speculators’ whims: the Planning Authority is an accomplice to the increased destruction of our environment. We need to safeguard what remaining agricultural land we have.
It is also futile to invest €700 million in open spaces if undeveloped land – including arable land lots – continue to be destroyed in a systemic manner. At the same time there are many dilapidated buildings across our islands that may be rehabilitated and reused.
The first local plan was enacted in 1995 and the lastest one in 2006. This unfettered urbanization is being carried out according to plans that are obsolete and in spite of all the empty promises no action has been taken to revise them – a revision that should lead to the reduction of land available for development by cancelling the rationalisation plan. Local plans need to be revised as a matter of urgency. We ill afford to keep postponing this revision indefinitely, concluded Cacopardo.
***
Ir-reviżjoni tal-pjani lokali hi materja urġenti u ma tistax tibqa’ tkun posposta
F’konferenza tal-aħbarijiet f’Marsaskala, kelliema ta’ ADPD – The Green Party saħqu li l-iżvilupp sfrenat ta’ bini f’din il-lokalità u f’oħrajn għandu jitwaqqaf immedjatament biex ma nkomplux ngħarrqu ż-żoni urbani ta’ pajjiżna li ħafna minnhom m’għadhomx pjaċevoli li tgħix fihom. Huma qalu dan b’referenza għal statistika maħruġa aktar kmieni din il-ġimgħa li uriet li n-numru ta’ permessi tal-iżvilupp fl-aħħar kwart tas-sena l-oħra qabżu l-2,000, b’Marsaskala fuq nett tal-klassifika b’aktar minn 200 permess, fil-parti l-kbira tagħhom għal appartamenti. Dan huwa żieda ta’ 30% meta mqabbel mal-aħħar kwart tas-sena ta’ qabel.
L-uffiċjal għar-relazzjonijiet pubbliċi ta’ ADPD – The Green Party u resident f’Marsaskala Brian Decelis qal li uħud minn dawn l-applikazzjonijiet huma riżultat tal-eżerċizzju ta’ razzjonalizzazzjoni tal-2006 meta żoni sħaħ li sa dakinhar kienu ikkunsidrati bħala art li għandha titħalla fl-istat naturali tagħha ingħatat għal bini.
Dan hu riżultat tal-fatt li ma kienu saru l-ebda studji dwar l-impatti ambjentali biex sar dan l-eżerċizzju. B’mod partikolari ma kienx ġie ikkunsidrat l-impatt kumulattiv tal-iżvilupp propost u dakinhar ġiet injorata kompletament direttiva tal-UE imsejjħa SEA (Strategic Environment Assessment Directive) li daħlet fis-seħħ ftit tal-jiem wara li ġie approvat dak l-eżerċizzju mill-Parlament Malti.
Decelis sostna li wieħed għandu jistaqsi jekk għandhiex bżonn dan l-iżvilupp kollu. “Għaliex irridu neqirdu kull roqgħa art li l-iżviluppaturi jitfgħu għajnejhom fuqa?” Jekk dak pleasuring kien twettaq minn Gvern Nazzjonalista, għandu jkun dan il-Gvern Laburista li jiftaħar li qalbu taħarqu għall-ambjent u l-kwalità tal-ħajja aħjar li jikkanċella immedjatament dak l-eżerċizzju u l-art li għadha mhix żviluppata tkun protetta darba għal dejjem.
Bħalma bis-saħħa tal-pressjoni pubblika li saret, is-soċjetà ċivili irnexxiela twaqqaf il-proġett tal-marina – wieħed jittama għal dejjem – hemm bżonn li dan il-ġenn sfrenat ta’ bini jitwaqqaf immedjatament. Nittamaw li it-tisbiħ tal-promenade tul il-kosta, imħabbar lejliet l-elezzjoni, jitwettaq kemm jista’ jkun malajr biex joffri sors ta’ rilassament u tgawdija għal kull min jgħix jew iżur din il-lokalità. Hemm il-ħtieġa ukoll li l-kummerċjalizzazzjoni tal-ispazji pubbliċi mal-kosta, bil-bankini b’kollox titrażżan, temm jgħid Decelis.
Iċ-Chairperson ta’ ADPD – The Green Party, Carmel Cacopardo qal li żviluppi fiż-żoni residenzjali għandhom jagħtu prijorità lill-kwalità tal-ħajja tar-residenti li diġà jabitaw f’dawk il-lokalitajiet. Dan li qiegħed jiġri f’Marsaskala qiegħed jitwettaq ukoll f’lokalitajiet oħra li anke ġew indikati mill-istatistika li ħarġet din il-ġimgħa dwar l-applikazzjonijiet għal permessi ġodda tal-bini.
F’kuntest usa’, l-art f’Malta, tul is-snin ma ġietx użata tajjeb. Ġiet żviluppata wisq art: inqerdet kemm kwantità ta’ raba’ kif ukoll ġonna u spazji miftuħa. Għandna l-obbligu li naraw li dan ma jibqax isir. L-impatt dirett ta’ dan kollu hu li Malta, u sa ċertu punt anke Għawdex, illum il-ġurnata saru massa waħda u kontinwa ta’ bini. L-isfreġju għadu għaddej.
Waħda mill-problemi li dan l-iżvilupp kollhu qiegħed jikkawża huwa dak tal-għargħar li nsibu f’diversi lokalitajiet, kif anke rajna fil-maltempata qalila li kellna iktar kmieni dan ix-xahar. Qed jiġi eliminat raba’ li kien jixrob l-ilma tax-xita u li kien jinġemgħa u jakkumula fl-ilma tal-pjan. Issa l-ilma tax-xita qed jispiċċa fit-triq u jgħarraq lil min jkun jinsab f’livell tal-art iktar baxxa, anke għax mhux jinġabar ilma fil-bjar. Il-konsegwenza ta’ dan, kif nafu, hi ta’ ħafna ilmijiet fit-toroq u ta’ drenaġġ ifur speċjalment meta tagħmel ħafna xita f’ħin qasir.
Jekk irridu nnaqqsu t-traffiku mit-toroq tagħna huwa essenzjali li ż-żoni urbani tagħna jkunu awtosuffiċjenti: b’hekk tonqos il-ħtieġa tal-użu tal-karozzi privati. Il-ħwienet iż-żgħar fl-ibliet u l-irħula tagħna inqatlu miċ-ċentri kummerċjali kbar u mis-supermarkets. L-ippjanar għall-użu tal-art dan kollu inkoraġġieh.
Inutli li jkollna kliem sabiħ dwar il-valur tal-art agrikola bħalma naqraw fir-Riforma fil-Qasam tar-Raba’ jekk imbagħad tkompli l-qerda aċċelerata tal-istess l-art – u dan bil-barka ta’ Awtorità tal-Ippjanar li b’mod kontinwu tapprezza biss il-valur ta’ din l-art għal min jinteressah li jispekula minn fuqha: l-Awtorità tal-Ippjanar hi kompliċi fil-qerda gradwali tal-ambjent kollu ta’ madwarna. Hemm bżonn li l-ftit raba’ li għad fadlilna nibżgħu għaliha.
Huwa inutli li jiġu investiti €700 miljun fi spazji miftuħa jekk l-art li għad għandna mhux żviluppata – inkluż ħafna raba’ tajba għall-biedja – tibqa’ tinqered b’mod sistematiku. Fl-istess waqt għad hawn ħafna bini mitluq mxerred mal-gżejjer tagħna li jista’ jiġi rijabilitat u utilizzat.
L-ewwel pjan lokali sar fl-1995 u l-aħħar wieħed fl-2006. L-urbanizazzjoni bla kontroll qiegħed jitwettaq skond pjanijiet lokali li għamlu żmienhom u li minkejja l-ħafna wegħdiet li saru baqa’ ma sar xejn biex dawn jiġu riveduti. Reviżjoni li għandha tnaqqas l-art tajba għall-iżvilupp billi tħassar il-pjan ta’ razzjonalizzazzjoni. Din ir-reviżjoni tal-pjani lokali hi materja urgenti u ma tistax tibqa’ tkun posposta, temm jgħid Cacopardo.