19th January 2002

Armier Boathouses

No agricultural land should be sacrificed to make way for boathouses at Armier Moviment ghall-Ambjent, Friends of the Earth (Malta) said today.

In the interests of social justice all illegal boathouses should be dropped and those that built illegally fined according to law. Since such a stance would appear to be ‘politically’ unpopular, FoE Malta suggests that as a compromise, no fines are to be paid for the past, but rent at the rate of Lm50 per month should be paid to the government with all boathouse owners agreeing to give up and demolish them after five years.

Owners not agreeing to that scheme should have their boathouse demolished. The rights of the great majority of Maltese, who do not have illegal boathouses, must be respected here. We cannot be held to ransom by a small group of criminals.

FoE Malta calls on the Malta Labour Party to suggest an acceptable proposal for the boathouses and one that can be agreed to by government. With both major parties agreeing, the threats of the boathouse owners will lose all their strength.