The Commissioner of Police has said he will be deploying police resources “as necessary” in the eventuality of a decision by the government to close the Spring hunting season.
In comments to MaltaToday, John Rizzo said the police were “prepared for any eventuality” in the run-up to a decision by the government on reopening the hunting season, an increasingly contentious issue for the Prime Minister.
Lawrence Gonzi has assumed the environment portfolio and will be the minister designated to whom the Ornis Committee, which groups representatives from the hunters’ federation FKNK and conservationists BirdLife Malta, will recommend whether to open or close the Spring season.
With infringement procedures having already been launched by the European Commission, which has taken Malta to the European Court of Justice over the illegal opening of the Spring hunting season in the last four years since becoming an EU member, observers believe the government cannot afford to open the hunting season in Spring again.
The issue was left pending in the run-up to the general election when the Ornis Committee decided not to issue any recommendation to the then environment minister, George Pullicino – passing the buck to him instead.
It was Pullicino who kicked the ball back into the Ornis Committee’s court after the committee decided it would not issue any recommendation to the minister over opening the spring hunting season, which runs from 10 April to 22 May, due to a pending European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling on the matter.
The Police is expected to be on standby against any possible retribution and vandalism by hunters if the government decides not to open the Spring season.
In the past, hunters have been blamed for gross acts of vandalism, including graffiti on Malta’s prehistoric temples, notoriously scrawled with the graffito ‘namur jew intajru’ – a clear threat to blow up the historical monuments.
Last February, three vehicles belonging to BirdLife volunteers were found ablaze in Buskett. Two of the torched cars belonged to BirdLife volunteers and council members – AFM colonel Emanuel Mallia and Natural History Museum curator John Borg – and the third, bearing a diplomatic number plate, belonged to an American, who started voluntary work a few months ago. The three volunteers were carrying out scientific ringing studies in Buskett. They arrived on site at about 5:45 a.m. and headed off to a nearby field to start their work. Fifteen minutes later, they heard a loud bang and returned to the scene to find their cars burning.
Also in February, two BirdLife billboards featuring Maltese personalities appealing to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and Opposition Leader Alfred Sant to stop illegal spring hunting were reported vandalised. The vandalised billboards formed part of BirdLife Malta’s campaign
In 2007, the spring season was cut short in the wake of a massacre of protected species. But the decision also came a day after the destruction of thousands of trees at a Mellieha nursery, a vandal act many attributed to renegade hunters, even though there was no evidence of culpability.
Then in March 2007, attacks were reported on the Ghadira Nature Reserve and the area around Hagar Qim temples, with slogans of “Viva l-Kacca” and “Hunting Forever” strongly suggesting a concerted campaign of intimidation in response to the curtailment of the season.
Although no hard evidence linked the Ghadira attack to hunters, BirdLife Malta executive director Tolga Temuge had little doubt who is to blame: “In view of the recent vandalism close to the Qrendi temples, and keeping in mind the statements that were posted on the FKNK website forum last January promoting violence and vandalism, the culprits of the recent attack on the Ghadira nature reserve are not hard to determine.”
Some 10 gallons of used car oil was thrown into the Ghadira wetland conservation reserve, polluting the soil, ditches and ponds.
The week before, the road, pavement and bus-stop in the vicinity of Hagar Qim – including the ominous warnings “Mnajdra RIP” and “Il-kbir ghadu gej” (the worst is yet to come) – brought back memories of the 2001 desecration of the Mnajdra temples.
In 2001, only days after the planning authority handed out some 20 stop-notices to hunters ordering them to demolish their illegal hides in the Zurrieq outskirts, the nearby Mnajdra temples were desecrated with Satanic graffiti and the removal of the megaliths. Although the perpetrators were never apprehended, popular opinion has held hunters responsible for the criminal attacks on the monuments.

mvella@mediatoday.com.mt