George Debono, Sliema.
When fielding questions at a recent business
breakfast seminar, Tourism Minister Francis Zammit Dimech is reported
to have said: "There could be no better argument in favour of
additional golf courses in Malta than the fact that both the
Nationalist Party and the Malta Labour Party agree to such a
development" (September 29).
This statement will surely go down in history as
the most sublimely illogical statement ever uttered in public by a
minister. An appropriate riposte to this can only be made in Italian -
che centra? It seems as if anything goes in the frantic attempts to
appear to be doing something to bolster Malta's dwindling tourist
statistics. If Malta's destiny is to be determined by this kind of
reasoning, then God help Malta.
Dr Zammit Dimech also tried to base his
justification of the golf course at Xaghra l-Hamra on the speculation
that "most of the population never set foot on the site being
proposed". Now, we Maltese are not the world's greatest walkers, in
fact "most Maltese" barely set foot outside their car when away from
home, so it is little wonder that few people walk at Xaghra l-Hamra.
But this is not the point. It does not alter the fact that the
permanent destruction of surviving pristine Maltese countryside and its
ecology in a small, overcrowded island to "spruce up Malta's tourism"
cannot be justified.
If Malta has a problem with tourism, what needs
to be addressed in the first place is the generalised deterioration of
our environment. The shabbiness and dilapidation is there for all to
see. To quote the words of a visitor "the only reason why I come to
Malta is the friendliness of the locals. Were it not for that it would
be madness to come here for my holidays because Malta is a polluted
dump". This is corroborated repeatedly by letters to this and other
local newspapers from well-meaning visitors who try to draw our
attention to the dirt and degradation of our built-up areas and
countryside which deter visitors from returning.
Quite simply, it is not much use having a
five-star golf course in a one-star country in the first place. Malta
must put first things first and improve Product Malta for the benefit
of both the Maltese and tourists.
Dr Zammit Dimech said: "It is fair to say that
today we know a lot and we can be more comfortable in the belief that,
by and large, golf courses are environmentally beneficial". This is
patronising nonsense which disregards not only the threat to our
aquifer posed by the huge amounts of fertiliser and herbicides needed
by golf courses in addition to the extinction of the biodiversity of
pristine territory.
Finally, has somebody done his sums properly or
made any serious marketing research to permit a sober assessment? It
seems not.
So far nobody has been able to trace the origin
of the mythical 30,000 more tourists (presumably golfers) per year. In
any case, the permanent destruction of a large area of precious as yet
untouched countryside by burying it under feet of earth and covering it
with turf which is alien to Malta is incalculable in terms of money.
Such extravagance at the expense of our environment for the sake of
tourism is unjustified - especially when the problem lies elsewhere,
namely, in our neglected infrastructure and shabby environment.
Golf logic? (2)
Mario Borg, St Paul's Bay.
Having read Tourism Minister Francis Zammit
Dimech's comments about the environmental benefits of golf courses in
Malta, I would like to ask a few questions. I am not affiliated to any
NGOs or political parties, nor do I presume to be an expert in
environmental matters; I'm just an ordinary citizen who enjoys the
scraps of countryside still left for ordinary citizens to enjoy,
concerned about the huge loss of our natural heritage implied.
So I ask:
What exactly are the benefits of covering the
natural environment with soil and allowing the growth of only one
non-endemic vegetation?
The minister mentioned Spain and Portugal. Is he
aware that they are facing one of the biggest drought crises in their
history? How are their golf courses helping in their current situation?
Did it rain so much more on these islands that we can afford to water
three golf courses? Spain boasts many mountains and rivers and is
surrounded by sea, yet they are struggling for water after one dry
season. Is the minister sure we can cope to keep our greens green?
Does he seriously think that tourists stopped
coming to Malta because we don't have a golf course? Or could it be
that the fact that it costs five times more to get here than to go to
most other European destinations has something to do with it?
Can we afford to lose more agricultural land?
Is it morally correct to deprive the citizens of
so much public land for the private benefit of a select few? Does the
government has a right to do this if it was not on its electoral
manifesto?
What's the minister's position about ancillary
developments that always surround a golf course?
Many people in the streets are asking these same
questions and more. I believe that as a representative of the people
and being responsible for tourism, Dr Zammit Dimech owes us some real
answers and not just political waffle.
• 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 •
