Talking Point; Below
par
John A. Mizzi
It is high time the Prime Minister dissociated
himself from the golf course project at Ghajn Tuffieha, which he has
been promoting so openly. Who is the faceless proposer of the project?
Why is the government supporting this objectionable "development" for a
private person or persons?
The Prime Minister, as head of the government,
must be held accountable for what is leading to a disaster. How is the
area to be turned into a golf course when most of it is hard rock,
swept by winds and heavy rain in winter and scorched by a blazing sun
in summer?
Who is coming to Malta to play golf when there
are so many wonderful courses all round the Mediterranean, not least in
Tunisia?
How can anyone think that there would be so many
golf players as to cover the expenses of converting the area and
maintaining the upkeep? How can anyone say this promotes tourism and
generates money (obviously to one specific promoter) while denuding a
fertile agricultural area and robbing all the farmers of their
livelihood and at the same time depriving the public from buying the
produce on the open market?
Why should Malta or Gozo have a golf course for a
handful (if any) of foreign visitors usurping unwittingly our heritage?
There cannot be that many nitwits around!
Once again, the government has taken the advice
of an "expert" who is a foreigner because they cannot think for
themselves and have an inferiority complex, when any Maltese adviser
would have told them right away how utterly impractical and destructive
a golf course at ix-Xaghra l-Hamra would be.
How is it that the President has signed the
eviction orders when he could have made his own assessment and refused
to do so? I understand the Prime Minister has ignored opposition from
some of his Cabinet members, too. Will those who oppose the project
stand up and be counted so one can know how to vote at the next
election?
Readers should also know that the project
incorporates the campsite of the Scout Association now in an advanced
state of completion - a project for which the government has imposed an
annual rent that is oppressive instead of furthering the noble aims of
this worthy youth organisation.
Who is carrying out negotiations for the takeover
of the land - is it the government which should not be involved if this
is a private venture, or who?
How can we as a people let the government ride
roughshod over the convictions of the majority of those who voted them
in?
Would Parliament support this project in a free
vote in the House? Ministers should be held accountable before the law
• Up • Elephants • The Myth • Garigue in Malta • Not Viable • Golf Logic • The Debate • Med Flora • Sacrifice • Who Pays? • Broken Promises • Building Starts • Suspicious • Wide Angle Alternatives • Good for the syndicate • Constitutional right to enjoyment of environment • Talking Point • Asking the right questions • Golfcourse Blues • A sign of things to come • Protect our open spaces •
