Just before Christmas I received volume 10 of “Let’s Gozo”. I found the articles very interesting, the one showing the pictures of Gozo in days gone by was of particular interest especially when one considers what the poor tourists of today have to put up with when walking through Victoria. We were very surprised to discover that there was a “Gozo Tourism Association” and that they even had a “Secretary-General”. Then there was also a “Gozo Adventures Director” – what amazing titles!
As a tourist, I had to ask myself: what do these gentlemen do all day?
Who takes care of all the dreadful potholes in the roads? Is this a project of the “Adventures Director” in order to promote motocross racing on Gozo?
Where are the 15 “hiking routes on Gozo” which are accepted by the farmers, hunters and trappers?
Who is brave/stupid enough to venture on hiking routes where hunters are in the habit of releasing their dogs when strangers are around, not to mention expending a bit of lead shot?
Who wants to walk along roads where truck drivers race past splattering pedestrians and walkers with unsavoury mud and water, or worse?
The hiking tourists must find it very exciting to walk past the various garbage skips on the island, for example in Qala, when one can observe enormous rats running about. They are possibly the only wild mammals which have not been decimated on the island.
Of course the plastic bags and bottles, the bits and pieces of burnt mattresses and other objects which “decorate” the newly planted (EU subsidised) grape vines in the area do add a bit of “Third World atmosphere”.
Where do we find the “peaceful rural character of Gozo”? Those times are unfortunately in the past...
The new construction laws which allow three-storey or higher buildings to be erected have led to many old farm houses and historic buildings being demolished. These have been replaced by new apartment blocks, many of which are now mostly ruins that nobody wants. Greed, greed, and more greed on the part of the developers and construction industry!
Fort Chambray is a half-finished ghost town, Mgarr Hotel is without windows and doors, and all that is left of the Andar Hotel is a big hole!
Yet now developers want to build a huge complex consisting of a hotel, marina and villas in Hondoq ir-Rummien. This project will effectively destroy one of the few relatively unspoilt and safe bathing areas on the island which is used by locals and tourists alike.
Don’t the Government, the Ministry of Gozo or the Malta Tourism Authority ever learn anything from past mistakes?
How much longer do they think that this unprofessional lack of planning will attract any tourists, let alone “upmarket tourists”, to visit Gozo? The trumped-up advertising which one reads and sees only results in frustrated tourists who will never visit the island again (nor will their friends and family).
As a normal tourist, I have to ask who is responsible on Gozo for the poor state of the various tourist facilities on the island. One can start with the public toilets which leave much to be desired. The antiquated equipment, the wet slimy floors... need I add more?
In a country where public telephone cells were once equipped with computer consoles, there is no excuse for disgusting toilets. Admittedly they are free, but quite frankly, I, and I am sure the majority of tourists, would be prepared to pay a small fee to use clean, functional toilets as is the case in other countries!
The state of the roads does not need further comment except to say that they are a mechanic’s dream and paradise for the tyre repair companies.
What does a tourist driving a rental car do when he/she arrives in Victoria? Where do they park? Should they leave their cars en route to Victoria and walk the rest of the way?
How can tourists be expected to slip and slide up a 50cm wide pavement to get to the Citadel, dodging other tourists and vehicles? What about people restricted to wheel-chairs, or mothers with prams? Are they not welcome to visit this island?
How much longer are the tourists who arrive by ferry expected to put up with dodging between revving vehicles spewing out odoriferous exhaust fumes just to get on or off the ferries?
Now, when the esteemed “Secretary General” brings up the airfield saga, he is only trying to divert attention from the miserable state of affairs in the tourist branch in Gozo. The only advantage of an airfield would be that the disillusioned upmarket tourists – who landed up on Gozo under false pretences in the first place – could depart the island as quickly as possible.
Has the esteemed “Secretary General” ever bothered to identify the advantages of the competition? By this I do not mean reading the hugely expensive reports compiled by companies like Deloitte or McKinsey, which tend to tell one what one likes to hear (tourism is on the rise, etc. etc.). Is he aware of the competition other islands invoke, like Madeira or the Canary islands, or even the hundreds of Croatian islands – not to mention Mauritius or the Seychelles! Pull up your socks, mate! People don’t need Gozo (but, with a little effort, they could be made to love it).
Regrettably, this criticism will also fall on deaf ears. Unfortunately, it seems that one of the aspects of the phrase “but it is the Maltese way of life” said with a shrug, which is so popular here as an excuse for anything, is that nobody seems to care. The authorities are not prepared to learn and listen, nor do they seem to want to. How terribly sad!
Gozo has so much to offer, the climate, the people, magnificent scenery and archaeological sites, but if it continues the way it is going now, not only will the present generation lose out, but future generations as well.
I therefore hope, with all my heart, that the younger generation will be given the necessary education and financial aid to guard their inheritance – to care for the environment of this beautiful island, to protect the fauna and flora and to never, ever give the politicians or greedy business men an opportunity to destroy any more of it than has been done in the past.
I have lived on this island on and off for over 20 years, my heart breaks when I see what has been done to it. Especially now in the autumn of my life when I could really enjoy it to the full, I walk along the beach and see garbage strewn all over the place, I walk along the village streets and see one building shell after the other, desolate, unwanted, ugly, I walk in the countryside and see discarded washing machines, fridges, bath tubs, plastic bags, spent shells and huge big rats! I don’t want to walk here any more…
Must I sell my lovely home, pack up my bags and say “Adieu”? I hope not.

Peter Riedhammer
Chief City Planner,
Munich, Germany

I write on behalf of my client Architect Catherine Galea and refer to the article “MEPA Deputy Chairman’s Application leads to road’s collapse in protected valley” written by Karl Scembri in the issue of 6 January, 2007, as this is not only libellous in her regard but also intends to create issues and fabrication of news which is totally untrue and does not bear with the facts of the development in question.
My client expects that investigative journalism should at least look into the documents available on the MEPA website correctly but should also be able to analyse the said documents without confounding the facts and issues.
It is not a fact that the application for the building of the bungalow in Santa Maria Estate, Mellieha, was an application appertaining to the said architect Catherine Galea. In actual fact, it is a client of Architect Catherine Galea who incidentally also bears her name and surname, that is Catherine wife of Domenic Galea, who lives in Xemxija, St Paul’s Bay.
Architect Catherine Galea is the wife of Alexander Galea, and lives in Balzan, hence the confusion of your investigative journalist.
Architect Galea, acted in her professional capacity on behalf of her client in submitting an application like all other Architects in Malta.
Furthermore, the area owned by the applicant is an area which has been schemed for bungalow construction since 1968, that is, when Santa Maria Estate was approved for development on an application of Cenmed Ltd. Submitted by Architects Mortimer & Degiorgio. Therefore, the said plot was and is not outside the development zone as your journalist alleges. It has always been schemed for building since inception.
The bridge at the foot of the valley is still intact despite the heavy rains. Unfortunately, the road collapsed onto the applicant’s site and not into the valley as alleged in the article.
The road collapsed due to extensive lateral pressures after soaking of rain water from the road surface and due to the fact that Triq il-Pont, Mellieha, was never properly constructed.
Moreover, applicant has been issued with a permit to uproot one carob tree and seven pistachio trees in exchange for 35 Maltese indigenous trees which are to be planted in the area.
As per MEPA regulations pools can also be built outside development zone areas, let alone, when the said pools are built on a plot schemed for development since 1968, and therefore your allegation of buildings being constructed in a protected area is totally unfounded in Law and in fact. The line of bungalows in Triq il-Pont, Mellieha, were all approved and developed with pools and other ancillary developments in the protected area.
After the road had collapsed, it was imperative, that remedial works start as soon as possible, in order to avoid further damage to the road structure, which collapsed fortuitously, as well as to the surrounding buildings. A temporary ramp had to be built on already disturbed group in order to gain access to the site to start the said works.
The said allegations are totally rebutted and are to be retracted as otherwise my client reserves the right to sue for damages and defamation as she has always acted correctly and professionally in her capacity as an Architect and Civil Engineer following all MEPA rules and regulations, more so as the MEPA Deputy Chairman.

Dr Edward DeBono

Reference is made to the reportage regarding the collapse of a road in Santa Marija Estate. This letter is meant to clarify any planning misconceptions that might have inadvertently arisen.
The Malta Environment & Planning Authority has issued a stop and enforcement notice on the site at Triq Il-Pont in Santa Marija Estate. This notice covers both the illegal works consisting of the formation of a rubble ramp and the site covered by a valid permit PA3195/05. It would be incorrect to say that the permitted site is outside development zone as this permit was approved and is within scheme. The attached plan shows the site of the approved permit, the site of the illegal ramp, the boundary of the enforcement notice and the area of the protected land.
This notice, ECF 21/08, stipulates that all works related both to the illegally constructed ramp and on works related to PA3195/05 must stop with immediate effect. The notice makes it clear that a method statement must be submitted by the architect on how the re-construction works on the road must be carried out and a separate method statement on how the rubble on the disturbed land not covered by permit is to be removed and the land returned to its original state.
There were also allegations of illegal removal of protected trees on the permitted land. The permit allowed the removal of a carob tree and seven pistacia trees subject to a compensatory planting of 35 indigenous trees (Condition 7).

Sylvana DeBono
Public Relations Officer, MEPA

In 1989 I bought a flat in Katerina Vitale Street, Xemxija. There was no Mistra Village then but in the following months my late husband and I watched the Mistra Village Hotel Complex being built. It was a charming building, sympathetic to the surrounding countryside, built solidly and imaginatively in the Maltese style and had beautiful landscaped gardens. It enhanced the area. I am appalled it fell into disrepair and has now been demolished.
Having seen drawings of the proposed building to be constructed on that site I cannot believe what I see. Something so ugly and so dominant in the surrounding area, totally at odds with the rural nature of its surroundings, shocks me. Such a construction would ruin the ambience and charm of the area. What attracted me to Xemxija Heights could be gone forever and I feel that my pleasure in visiting Malta from my home in the UK could be over. Katerina Vitale street could become a noisy, nasty place to live. I see no point in inviting friends and family to join me in Malta because of the unfavourable impression they would get and I know they would never want to visit Malta again. Tourists are very put off by building sites.
I wonder how the road infrastructure (already overloaded around Xemxija Hill) could support the construction of such a huge project. As far as I can see the quality of life for the residents of Xemxija Heights and the peace of the area would deteriorate badly and become intolerable. Lack of light and the pressure of population would make it unbearable to live there if such a massive construction were built. As an owner of a property in Katerina Vitale Street I wonder why there have been no consultation discussions. It seems that the residents of Xemxija Heights who would be affected by all of this have not even been considered.
I am dismayed , not only at the fear of the effect on my investment but also at the loss of my happiness in visiting my second home in Malta.

Nancy Kampschuur
Eastbourne, UK

Every Sunday morning over breakfast, an interesting and tense struggle is acted out in my family to establish who gets to read MaltaToday first! The arrival of Illum a year ago has at least ensured that my knowledge of Maltese guarantees a good consolation prize in the event that I lose the toss for the MT. Between the two of them these newspapers have hogged good non-party journalism and have refreshed the parts other newspapers cannot or will not reach, to borrow an advertising slogan from way back. They have certainly caused at least one other major Sunday rag to initiate a major cleanout of its stables. One prize steed in the Media Today stable is James Debono, whose investigative journalism has established new benchmarks in the profession.
On the 2 December 2007, James Debono turned his attention to foreign language learning in Maltese schools. In an opening reminiscent of the first sentence of the Communist Manifesto, Debono wrote that “The ghost of the ‘language question’ still haunts the local educational system” and proceeds to look at the language choices of fifth formers in Malta. After this promising start Debono regrettably limits himself to giving a static picture and refrains from going into any great depth into this clearly important matter. It occurred to me that your readers might be interested in knowing what is happening beyond the shores of our little island.
In a February 2006 report entitled “Europeans and their Languages”, Eurobarometer declared that “In terms of foreign languages spoken over the continent, the linguistic map seems to be limited to five languages: English, French, German, Spanish and Russian” Of these, English is considered the most useful for personal development and career by 68% of respondents, followed by French (25%), German (22%) and Spanish (16%). Russian and Italian are each considered useful by 3% of respondents in the EU25 countries plus Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia and Turkey (p32). Nevertheless, the report acknowledges the special situation prevailing in Malta where a remarkable 64% consider Italian useful, a situation which the report ascribes to geographical proximity.
Another, perhaps even more interesting, question asks which languages respondents thought children should learn and the respondents answered English (77%), French (33%), German (28%), Spanish (19%), Russian (3%), and Italian (2%) – the first four are thus confirmed in their preponderant position in the EU25 while Russian maintains its position owing to its importance in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. Italian loses ground in both the EU25 and in Malta. But rather than limit ourselves to the current situation it may be of even greater interest to know what the projections are for language use in the future.
LEAP/Europe 2020, a European think-tank, has been conducting in-depth grass root studies on the trends affecting Europe’s linguistic sphere for the last decade. In a recent report entitled “Which languages will the Europeans speak in 2025?” it made the following projections:
- The growth of Spanish as an international language.
- The great comeback of German.
- The revival of French.
- The end of English (Anglo-American) as the hegemonic language of modernity.
- The entry of Russian into Europe’s linguistic “purgatory”.
There is no mention of Italian anywhere in the report.
The LEAP/E2020 report, available on http://www.leap2020.eu, clearly has important implications both for individuals such as parents making decisions concerning the education of their children, and for national and international educational and other institutions in both the public and private sectors. As the report points out, individual and collective strategies as regards language education are long-term processes based on choices made at least one generation earlier. Wrong choices may result in having to pay a hefty price – complete inadequacy between linguistic offer and demand, between a population’s language literacy and its socio-economic linguistic needs in terms of commercial, cultural, scientific and political exchanges.

Dr. Carmel Vassallo
Mediterranean Institute
University of Malta

Some newspapers have published articles from contributors predicting that the new political party Azzjoni Nazzjonali (AN) will be taking a lot of votes from one of the big parties or both. This is not a big surprise because some of the “plans” of AN are very interesting. The deputy leader is a business man, and the party means business and not just words.  It is obvious that this party cannot become the “government” after the forthcoming election. With the voting system as it is they may probably not even win one seat.
Not many people seem to understand that the trend is that many people are learning to refuse to belong to a “traditional party”.  They want to be free voters.  These people are even tired of being referred to as “floating voters” simply because at last they have learned that that phrase can be very offensive. It is in a way an “imprisoning” mentality,  or worse still a “label” that depicts these people to be permanently “undecided”. What if these people have learned that what is more important is not to belong  (be a prisoner) to a party,  but to express oneself in a free manner?
Will the AN really take a lot of votes from the big parties? Who knows? A prediction is based on what one thinks will happen. Reality is different - it is an analysis of what has already happened after it happens, and even that is still subject to personal opinions and inclinations.
For example:  the two major political parties have been used, for many years, by the hunters. They accepted that the hunters and trappers were a very strong “conservationist”  force.  To some people it sounds like a “contradiction”. How can a hunter who kills birds be associated with a trapper who wishes to catch them alive, and perhaps breed them? Every  resident in a democratic country has a right to express and fight for personal beliefs. Can you do so, too?  Ask AN. AN promises that it will defend the hunters. What about the trappers ? How can a bird “trapper”  be defended against a “hunter”?   
If we decide to belong to a commercial world, what does our future need? Old politics or established business  brains? We do have a choice: we can choose to live in history and traditions,  or move forward. It is our freedom and responsibility to choose. Freedom requires responsibility; not only in politics.

Reggie Debono
Attard

David Darmanin describes the procedure to allow media into open centres as “restrictive” (Malta Today, January 6, 2008). The Organisation for Integration and Welfare of Asylum Seekers (OIWAS) feels that this statement needs some clarification for the benefit of all.
Based on the premise that a centre is a residential facility and is an open centre for the residents and the workplace of staff members, we only request all visitors to give some forward notice of their intention to visit. It is in this sense that a centre is “private property” and not open to all in a free for all manner. Access has always been granted to all visitors, including the media. We have only asked journalists to revise their schedules when other media organizations would already be present in the paricular centre. This basic act of courtesy before entering another’s property also allows the management to explain to visitors, including the media, that several residents take their privacy very seriously, because of potential dangers to their families and friends back home if their names and faces were to be exposed. Furthermore, children and minors are not to be interviewed or photographed without the consent of their parents or guardians. These are responsibilities which we take seriously.

Gerald Micallef
Media Officer, OIWAS

A few weeks before the New Year, I read a misleading article in your esteemed paper regarding the number of contraventions issued in certain localities. This article, written by James Debono, a friend of mine and an ex school mate, indicated that the top localities in issuing contraventions were Labour led. As soon as I read the article I looked in the House of Representatives web page to try to find ay PQ related to the subject. I found none. I immediately realised that the information given to Mr Debono was selective. The source of such information forgot to mention the number of contraventions issued in the locality of St Julian’s. I really am curious in knowing the exact amount of fines each and every locality issued – but such information must to say the least be gathered officially from Parliament!
That article was misleading. I am only going to refer to the amount of contraventions issued in Hamrun. In the article it was stated that Hamrun Local Council cashed Lm128,000 in contraventions last year. This is not so. Mr Debono forgot to subtract from this amount the sum of Lm77,000 paid by the Hamrun Local Council as expenses to run the whole LES system. The vast majority of this expense, circa 70%, was devoted to the local warden agency and Datatrak!
So in actual fact, on paper, Hamrun Local Council has a surplus of Lm51,000. I say on paper since not all fines are paid. Many of these fines apply to people who do not send their children to school. These are fines which will never be collected.
The real issue we have here is not how much the local councils are earning from the LES system, but how much they are paying the private sector to run the system. The money which stays in the local councils’ pockets is reinvested in the respective locality in the form of various projects. The money which is being paid to sustain the system, goes into private pockets.
Why is it that difficult to query in any paper the real business that is being made out of the LES system?
On another article which appeared on 6 January, my friend James Debono published a report regarding the efficiencies and inefficiencies of local councils. Once again I challenge such report regarding my council. I mention one tiny example. In this report about Hamrun, those who supposedly came to check about the situation of traffic signs and repainting, remarked that certain streets on a particular day lacked proper repainting. I was surprised to see this remark since a week before that particular date, repainting was completed in that same streets.
I am raising serious doubts about these reports since we have no empirical proof that such assessments were actually done and people really sent to personally examine the localities. The reports given raise more than just an eyebrow since the top most efficient local councils, on the eve of an election, are all PN-led. This is a coincidence, right?
Instead of believing these Government led reports, I tend to believe more the trust that people are giving to MLP in leading more and more local councils. The voice of the people is the only voice worth hearing!

Dr Luciano Busuttil
Hamrun Mayor and
Vice-President, MLP Local Councillors Section

Much has been said about the introduction of the Euro and the SEPA (Single European Payment Area). One main argument was that we do not need to convert from one currency to another anymore, thus saving fees and becoming more competitive on the international markets.
Recently, I got an inbound IBAN transfer in Euro and was charged an extra cost from a local Maltese Bank in form of commission for receiving the money. Full bank charges were paid by the other European Bank executing the transfer.  Considering that the IBAN directive states that IBAN transactions must not cost more than national transfers, I urge the authorities to look into the matter.  
Regulation (EC) No 2560/2001 of the European Parliament and the Council of 19 December 2001 affirms that “As with effect from 1st January 2006, charges levied by an institution in respect of cross-border credit transfers in euro up to €50,000 shall be the same as the charges levied by the same institution in respect of corresponding credit transfers in euro transacted within the Member State in which the establishment of that institution executing the cross-border transfer is located.”

Stefan Engelbert
Pembroke

I love reading Mona’s page to make sure I visit the very places she likes lambasting most. Case in point is Oswald’s Madliena Cottage. If Mona had the pleasure that my brother and I had in visiting Oswald in Glen Eagles, she would probably know that a dinner for two in these Michelin Star restaurants she so much likes to refer to would cost more than Lm15. Maybe Lm15 would serve to buy the aperitifs. But then, Michelin Star restaurants offer what is called a fine dining experience. How viable would this be here? Who would open a restaurant investing thousands of liri as Mona would like us to have, only then to listen to her moans, expecting to dine and wine at some Lm1.25 per glass? Of course, it is possible to have wine by the glass in Michelin Star restaurants, but only if you’re willing to pay the price of what elsewhere would be the value of a full bottle, to put it conservatively.
My point is, this type of restaurant is not viable here, whatever Mona has to say. Just to give an example, my brother went to eat in a Michelin Restaurant in Lyons (Paul Bocuse) and a soup with special truffles cost him Lm100. This was served by one of the specialized and prim and proper waiters so much adored by Mona. Turns out that as he’s opening the wine bottle, it slipped and broke into the soup, ruining my brother’s suit. God knows what Mona would have done in the situation. I can also mention another case when I went to a restaurant in Milan, Cracco Pek, and they had no idea of how to prepare a Vodka Martini for me, nor did they have Baileys. When I ended up opting for a Vodka with orange juice they ended up giving me this funny drink that resembled nothing like what I had in mind. Another popular restaurant with a steady flow of patrons organizes two sittings: one between 7pm and 9pm, and the other between 9pm and 11pm. And irrespective of whether you’re taking dessert or still enjoying the furniture as Mona likes to do, you have to get out once your sitting is over. I always ask myself how would Mona react in such restaurants?
Within this context, we should feel lucky we have the food of the experience of a Michelin Star restaurant as Oswald, Victor Borg and Joe Vella offer, just to mention a few, and who offer it for reasonable prices (unlike her overvalued book) and are therefore accessible to many more people. I think it’s high time Mona proves me right by opening her own Michelin Star restaurant in Malta. With all her ideas, I’m sure it would be a raging success. Just take care of the price, Mona.

Mauro Anastasi
Żebbuġ

The various digital clocks around Malta and Gozo giving the countdown for the introduction of the Euro have now served their purpose.  It would be a pity to leave them lying fallow. God knows how much they cost.
As a start, I suggest that the Prime Minister now uses them to give us the long-awaited, final countdown for the coming general election.
Oh, and please, no messing about this time, as he did with the ATM on New Year’s Eve!

 V. Piccinino,
Valletta

I was shocked to learn that MEPA has authorised the construction of a mega supermarket on agricultural land in the ODZ green buffer zone between Kirkop and Safi. That it did so without even bothering to consult the Kirkop Local Council is inexcusable.
Despite the rhetoric and legislation guaranteeing independent Malta’s democracy, transparency and promise to consult stakeholders, such action mirrors the arbitrary power I observed the colonial government wielding in the 1950s and 1960s.
MEPA owes the inhabitants of Kirkop an apology and an explanation of why it failed to consult them and why it ignored the  Local Plan and the contrary recommendations of the agricultural authorities and, last but not least, its own Planning Directorate.
 
Jeremy Boissevain
Amsterdam