Few people realise that the Maltese Constitution pledges that “the State shall safeguard the landscape”. Mepa policies are full of nuggets of wisdom, including “within the designated natural coastal areas… no urban development will be permitted”, yet these policies are ignored as we witness an increase in abusive structures on beaches, even on protected sand dunes.
In spite of such strong legal safeguards, actual protection has been getting progressively weaker, with uncontrolled development taking over as hotel beach concessions, boathouses, kiosks, bars and restaurants occupy beaches, public coastal zones and promenades illegally.
The seashore is public property, yet our popular beaches are becoming privatised, with ever-shrinking space left for members of the public who are often harassed or bullied for having the temerity to think they can lay their towel on a public beach.
Mepa’s Structure Plan and local plans state: “Many competing uses intrude on the coast mainly resulting from illegal tourism development that has rendered parts of the coast inaccessible. Coastal resources are deteriorating from visual intrusions and pollution threats.
“Malta needs to protect its coastal zone and its countryside from unsightly development.”
Yet seaside hotels are gearing up to expand while restaurants brazenly take over promenades, building underground kitchens on public land without a permit and extending concrete platforms into main roads with consequent danger to traffic and pedestrians.
The ultimate insult was when government employees were deployed to uproot mature trees – public property – to allow restaurateurs to add an extra table or two at Marsalforn seafront.
In Xlendi, officials say that the beautiful trees that have been replaced by restaurant tables were destroyed by storms. Pull the other leg.
Same for “the marine environment in popular diving areas is fragile and must be protected.”
Fish farms already pollute some bays. Land reclamation projects threaten our marine ecology and scuba-diving industry.
Where is this famed protection? The politicians are convinced that these developments will generate increased income but are not taking into account the fact that Malta’s overdevelopment is actually putting off tourists.
Interestingly, Mepa policy CZM 3 reveals past government intentions to return the coastline to the public: “Public access around the coastline immediately adjacent to the sea or at the top of cliffs will be secured. This will include taking shore-lands into public ownership, government acquisition of illegal developments and encroachments… all the coastline will be brought into public ownership within a specified period.”
This policy was in fact carried out when the owner of the now-demolished Mare d’Oro Restaurant in Fekruna Bay, Xemxija, was compensated €4.3 million for returning his site to the government.
This generous payment reflects Mepa’s North Harbour Local Plan commitment: “Large stretches of the coast have been given over to beach encroachments and tourist-related uses in the past… it becomes even more important to protect from any form of urban development the few remaining unspoilt stretches of natural coast.”
In the light of such policies, how can the authorities justify spending such a huge sum on one small site while turning a blind eye to abuse in bays like San Blas, Golden Sands, L-Aħrax and other locations where abusive structures grew unchecked over the years due to the lack of political commitment to enforce the law?
In Vittoriosa, a number of abusive gates and legalised structures are still preventing the public from using the tiny beach and public areas in spite of years of official complaints to the Land Department.
In Ta’ Xbiex, the lovely public garden is to be privatised, the last thing one would expect from a socialist government, let alone one that was elected on the promise of Malta Tagħna Lkoll (Malta for all).
Environment NGOs Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, Friends of the Earth Malta and the Ramblers’ Association have repeated that it is an insult to the public to impose ridiculous fines, allowing abusers to benefit for years while law-abiding operators suffer from unfair competition.
The NGOs maintain that illegal encroachment amounts to theft, yet, our politicians are still treating those who steal from the public with kid gloves. The only effective deterrent is cumulative fines. The Ombudsman has also condemned the erosion of public rights as “bad administration without due consideration of the national interest”.
The same NGOs have launched a petition where members of the public are demanding that the authorities stop granting further encroachments on public land. (You may wish to sign this petition here.)
They are also objecting to the extension of a hotel resort at Ferro Bay, Sliema – PA 02301/14, another Sliema beach under threat of privatisation, along with the whole Qui-Si-Sana/Tignè foreshore.
The public is being deprived of the free enjoyment of its rights, which is a violation of social, environmental and economic justice.
The petition calls on the Prime Minister and the Parliamentary Secretary for Planning to pressure Mepa, the Department of Land and the MTA to do their duty, taking immediate and effective action against the illegal land-grab that is taking place.
The foreshore has been legally recognised as public domain ever since Roman times; it is up to each one of us to speak up now. Let us not lose any more of what our ancestors had the sense to protect.
Astrid Vella, August 23, 2014
Astrid Vella, coordinator of Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar
