Unplanned Development on land and sea

ACR is in complete agreement with other NGOs who care for the health of residents, the preservation of the environment and the sustainability of a good quality of life for  Maltese citizens.

The constant building activities are not being regulated. The health and quality of life of the residents is being jeopardized.  Different governments have not controlled the rampant construction which has ruined our towns and villages while damaging policies have continued unabated to pave the way for more building in our threatened countryside, impacting agriculture and biodiversity.

Traffic is getting out of control and will continue to do so even more. This is costing the nation €274 million a year[1] in terms of lost productivity and ill health due to toxic emissions – contributing to lung conditions, heart problems, cancer and strokes – as well as taking us ever further from our 2020 climate change targets.

Malta will soon not look like Malta but a disparate looking island with no character with no tourist interest. We would have lost our identity and become more like a concrete jungle with scattered high rise buildings. Next would be the destruction of our heritage buildings. We have not made any good planning like what London has done with its derelict areas like the Isle of Dogs where Canary Wharf was developed. They just dedicated that area only for high rise buildings and not scattered them in historic places. We owe it to the future generations to leave to them the Malta we have enjoyed.

ACR urges the Government to set up Surveillance Officers to ensure that our shores and sea are free from pollutants and greasy sludges which are coming from the fish-farms and to penalize the culprits heavily. There is no price for the loss of tourism,  Authorities have ignored the many complaints from environmentalists, society and swimmers for years now, as far back as 2005.  Possibly due to greed, the fish-farm owners have expanded the fish farms to more than the permitted sizes. This should be checked and enforcement measures carried out quickly. Malta depends on its sea, sun and environment for its survival. We do not want to scare the tourists away as that would mean an end to one of the Islands’ our most important income resources.

[1] Refer to page 59 of The External Costs of Passenger and Commercial Vehicle use in Malta : https://ec.europa.eu/malta/sites/malta/files/docs/body/study_on_traffic_online.pdf