27th January 2002

Prime minister’s reasoning is wrong

The decision as to whether Kalkara valley should be developed or not should not depend on the technical reports of the Planning Authority, as the Prime Minister is suggesting, Friends of the Earth (Malta) said today.

Saving Kalkara valley would be a sign of the government’s willingness to get to grips with Malta’s environmental problems and for sustainable development. Deciding to build in the valley would be yet further indication that this government is not interested in protecting our countryside and has not understood what sustainable development is.

What must be weighed up here is not some technical report, but what Malta will benefit from most: retaining a valley which is an important ecosystem and provides some much needed open space in the south of Malta or building more houses and flats.

Malta has too many dwellings already and about 40,000 empty ones. This is a clear case of an under-utilisation of resources and is a problem that should be addressed in earnest.

The people that want to build in Kalkara should be offered alternative sites or be financially compensated. Provided that those people are satisfied with the compensation Malta will have achieved a win-win situation.

Malta’s size and lack of planning over the last fifty years require that each natural area of some ecological importance, and certainly every valley, should be protected.