So the authorities have decided against naming the national park at Xaghra l-Hamra after Julian Manduca. While this official indifference is truly a shame, it is hardly a good reason to abandon the proposal.
Who is to stop us from calling it the ‘Julian Manduca National Park’? Popular usage needs little official approval and I, for one, will refer to the new park as the ‘Julian Manduca National Park’. Official decisions, statements and signs can do sweet little to stop me unless the government intends to venture into a Pythonesque take of Orwellian authoritarianism and create a linguistic police force. If all those who had the good fortune to meet Julian and be inspired by his commitment to safeguarding our environment follow suit, the name Majjistral will join the discarded golf course plans in the dustbin of history quicker than you could say “silly proposals for Xaghra l-Hamra.”