The recovery of our country’s economy from the impact of Covid should provide us with an opportunity to improve our policies. It is a unique occasion to plan better tourism that does not depend on numbers but focuses on quality. ADPD-The Green Party Chairperson Carmel Cacopardo,  addressing a press conference in Bugibba Square on Saturday,  together with Deputy Secretary General Sandra Gauci emphasised that tourism is not only injecting income into our economy but leaving a negative impact in its wake on the residents.

Sandra Gauci referred to recent Ministerial statements alluding to an economy growth without restraint in complete disregard to its impact on the country’s infrastructure and the quality of life for all. Are we aware that services such as our hospitals and schools are already bursting at the seams?

Gauci highlighted the Government’s target to return tourism to it’s pre-Covid 2019 levels: more than two million tourists annually. “It seems that no lesson has been learnt and we are going to see a repeat of the same vision of tourism built on numbers and not on quality – it is an indirect admission that Malta can no longer offer quality tourism after the country has been disfigured and made so unappealing thanks to the greed of a clique that have been allowed to do as they please,” said Gauci.

“If we truly believed in improving the tourist product we would not allow a locality that is meant to be a prime tourist site such as the one we are in today – Buġibba – to be mushrooming with cranes everywhere, leaving little space for relaxation not only to the tourist that comes here for a few days but let alone to the year-round residents. Noise, dust, abandonment, aesthetically horrible buildings and all day traffic have become the defining characteristics of our localities reflecting an economy based on unrestrained haphazard development on the backs of cheap labour,” concluded Gauci.

Carmel Cacopardo stated that now is the time to discontinue the consideration of tourism only from the viewpoint of those who invest or are employed in the sector. We have to start seriously considering the needs of the residents that live in such localities. However, authorities such as those for tourism and land use planning ignore completely the residents. Financial consideration and moneyed interests take precedence over people in most cases almost without fail!

“It is enough to have a look at the pavements in touristic zones, taken over by tables and chairs making it impossible to walk through. Residents all over the island rightly demand to have their pavements back! The taking over of the pavements by commercial concerns with the blessing of the authorities also means that in such areas it becomes extremely difficult to transport heavy objects into one’s house as well as being unable to put the trash bags out before it is collected,” stated Cacopardo.

Cacopardo mentioned that the yearly notice to stop excavation and demolition in tourist zones between the 15th of June and the 30th of September has just been published. This is meant to minimise dust, noise and general inconvenience in touristic zones. “It is imperative that this awareness is no longer limited to tourist areas but is extended throughout the whole country because all its citizens deserve to be considered by the building industry,” concluded Cacopardo.

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Turiżmu li jagħti każ tar-residenti ukoll

Il-ħidma biex nirkupraw mid-daqqa li qlajna bħala riżultat tal-Covid hi opportunità biex intejbu l-qafas tal-politika tal-pajjiż. L-irkupru mill-Covid kif għidna diversi drabi hi opportunità unika biex nippjanaw turiżmu aħjar li ma jiddependix fuq numri kbar iżda li jkun jiffoka fuq il-kwalità. It-turiżmu mhux biss flus jiġġenera, imma ukoll impatti negattivi fuq ir-residenti. Dan intqal minn Carmel Cacopardo Chairperson ta’ ADPD – The Green Party li flimkien ma Sandra Gauci, Deputat Segretarju Ġenerali tal-partit indirizzaw konferenza tal-aħbarijiet fil-Pjazza ta’ Buġibba dwar it-turiżmu.

Sandra Gauci irreferiet għal dak li qalu diversi Ministri riċentement dwar ekonomija li tikber bl-addoċċ mingħajr ma tagħti każ il-konsegwenzi fuq l-infrastruttura tal-pajjiż u tal-kwalità tal-ħajja tagħna lkoll.  Nafu li s-servizzi bħal sptarijiet u l-skejjel diġa huma ffullati? 

Gauci irreferiet għall-mira tal-Gvern li jerġa’ jġib lura t-turiżmu għal aktar minn żewġ miljun turist fis-sena: ċ-ċifri tal-2019 qabel faqqgħet il-Covid. “Prattikament ma tgħallmu xejn u se jibqgħu joffru l-istess vizjoni ta’ settur turistiku mibni fuq il kwantità u mhux fuq il-kwalità. Din hija ammissjoni indiretta li Malta mhix kapaci toffri turiżmu ta’ kwalità għaliex il-pajjiż tkisser u tkerrah frott ir-regħba ta’ klikka ta’ nies li ngħataw l-arja u qed jagħmlu kullimkien tagħhom,” qalet Gauci.

“Li kieku veru rridu ntejbu t-turiżmu ma nħallux postijiet bħal Buġibba li fih ninsabu llum u li hu suppost post turistiku intela’ bi krejnijiet kullimkien, li ftit li xejn se joffru jiem ta’ serħan, la lit-turist li jiġi Malta għall-btala tiegħu u l-anqas lill-Malti li qiegħed hawn is-sena kollha. Storbju, trab, telqa, bini ikrah, u traffiku ma jieqafx saru l-karatteristika tal-lokalitajiet tagħna b’ekonomija ibbażata fuq bini bl-addoċċ u bla rażan u minn fuq dahar il-ħaddiema biċ-cheap labour,” temmet tgħid Gauci.

Carmel Cacopardo qal li hemm bżonn li ma nibqgħux inqisu lit-turiżmu biss mil-lenti ta’ dawk li jaħdmu fih, inkella dawk li jinvestu fih. Irridu nibdew nagħtu każ ukoll tan-nies li jgħixu fil-lokalitajiet turistiċi. Sfortunatament l-awtoritajiet differenti, ibda minn dik tat-turiżmu u kompli f’dik tal-ippjanar, xejn ma jagħtu każ tan-nies. Dejjem, u kważi bla eċċezzjoni, ipoġġu lill-flus, u lin-nies tal-flus qabel in-nies.

“Ħarsu ftit lejn il-bankini fil-postijiet turistiċi u ara jekk hux diffiċli li tgħaddi timxi minn fuqhom. Ir-residenti jridu l-bankini lura, għax il-bankini qegħin għan nies u mhux għall-imwejjed u għas-siġġijiet. Fiż-żoni turistiċi fejn jgħixu ukoll in-nies, minħabba li l-awtoritajiet taw il-barka tagħhom biex in-negozji jieħdu f’idejhom il-bankini hu diffiċli biex iddaħħal oġġetti tqal id-dar, bħalma f’numru ta’ każijiet sar diffiċli li toħroġ iż-żibel wara l-bieb qabel ma jgħaddi tal-iscammel,” qal Cacopardo.

Cacopardo irrerefera għal kif, f’dawn il-ġranet, ħareġ avviż kif joħroġ kull sena, biex bejn il-15 ta’ Ġunju u t-30 ta’ Settembru ma jkunx hemm xogħol ta’ skavar jew twaqqiegħ ta’ bini f’żoni turistiċi. Dan isir biex jonqsu t-trabijiet, storbju u inkonvenjent ġenerali f’żoni turistiċi. “Din is-sensittività hemm bżonn li tinfirex mal-pajjiż kollu u mhux tkun limitata għaż-żoni turistiċi għax f’kull parti tal-pajjiż hemm bżonn li l-industrija tal-bini tagħti każ tan-nies,” temm jgħid Cacopardo.