Prayers over Hondoq
Published on Malta Today
The provincial of the Augustinian priests knows his order stands to gain well over half a million liri from the Hondoq ir-Rummien development if the project is given the green light. But he declares indifference to the controversial issue.
By MATTHEW VELLA
Hondoq ir-Rummien’s future hangs in the balance. Between the prospect of its mega-development into Gozo’s most grand tourist complex, and the protest of environmentalists and Qala’s residents, a community of priests demand their right to remain neutral over the profit they could stand to gain over the development of the area.
Fr Lucjan Borg, the provincial of the Augustinians, is knowledgeable of the conflict that hangs over the controversial development of Hondoq ir-Rummien, whose acres of countryside separate the picturesque bay from the village of Qala.
But equally controversial is his viewpoint that the order he heads, which sold the land to Gozo Prestige Holidays for just Lm150 per tumolo. If the Gozitan company, headed by lawyer turned entrepreneur Victor Bajada, is issued a permit to develop its project, the Augustinians’ paltry Lm10,200 stands to turn into Lm680,000 – Lm10,000 for each tumulo of land.
As he contemplates the prospect of the Augustinian’s enrichment with such a far-reaching project, Fr Lucjan Borg says the order has every right to sit back and reap the profits from the land it has sold.
“We don’t want businessmen fooling us the same way they did in the past,” Borg says about how many local parishes dispensed off their lands for pittances to businessmen.
Instead, the provincial claims, the order will be getting a much greater, “fair value” of the land if Gozo Prestige Holidays are successful with their application to develop Hondoq ir-Rummien.The EUR75 million mega-project is indeed expansive: a five-star hotel, 285 residential units, even a yacht marina. After four long years of hibernation, the developers want to change to transform a disused quarry they claim will resemble “the work of nature itself”, giving the impression that the new village “evolved organically over the last century”.
The people of Qala are squarely against the project. Back in November 2002, following a campaign spearheaded by parish priest Dun Karm Refalo, 85 per cent of residents voted to keep Hondoq ir-Rummien free of development, in a referendum organised by the local council.
The new Nationalist-led council, has not yet made its position public on the project, a worrying prospect for many in the village.
Among the headaches for the nearby residents will include the ongoing construction of the hotel, right up until 2010, which will first start off with the extraction of 900,000 cubic metres of rock from the old quarry, to be stockpiled for re-use in nearby quarries. Excavation will take place over 15 to 18 months, where 60 trucks will leave every day between 7.00am to 7.00pm, six days a week.The developers claim they will be creating 200 jobs during construction and 400 new jobs once the project is underway.
Back in St Augustine parish church, Valletta, Fr Lucjan Borg protests against accusations that the order stands to profit from such a controversial project by sitting on the fence.
“Nobody ever gave us a cent. No government ever did. We need thousands for the extension of our school, and it was deemed appropriate that the Order should capitalise over its property so it can be able to forward its mission, which is education.”Unlike the transfer of land from the Church under the 1992 Church-State agreement, the Augustinians’ private transfer of land carries none of the obligations that prohibit such land from being developed for commercial reasons.
But Fr Borg refuses to “rationalise” what appears to be an ethical conundrum for the Augustinians, who stand to make a sizeable return from a project which has already been refused by the majority of Qala residents.
“Let’s be precise over where the battle is. If it’s a battle over the environment, we cannot rationalise something that was not an environmental concern back in the time when we sold it,” Borg says.
Borg admits he would like to see the environment “being safeguarded”, but he is adamant to see that the order is paid for the value of the land should it be given the green light for development.
“We’re indifferent. Don’t we have a right to remain neutral?”
But isn’t it immoral for the order to sit on the fence, ignoring the social ramifications of such a far-reaching project?
“Just because we’re priests? We’d have to say then that any capitalist transaction is immoral… With whose right can anyone force us to be against this project? If this is a legal endeavour, we also have our own civil rights.”
mvella@mediatoday.com.mt
The provincial of the Augustinian priests knows his order stands to gain well over half a million liri from the Hondoq ir-Rummien development if the project is given the green light. But he declares indifference to the controversial issue.
By MATTHEW VELLA
Hondoq ir-Rummien’s future hangs in the balance. Between the prospect of its mega-development into Gozo’s most grand tourist complex, and the protest of environmentalists and Qala’s residents, a community of priests demand their right to remain neutral over the profit they could stand to gain over the development of the area.
Fr Lucjan Borg, the provincial of the Augustinians, is knowledgeable of the conflict that hangs over the controversial development of Hondoq ir-Rummien, whose acres of countryside separate the picturesque bay from the village of Qala.
But equally controversial is his viewpoint that the order he heads, which sold the land to Gozo Prestige Holidays for just Lm150 per tumolo. If the Gozitan company, headed by lawyer turned entrepreneur Victor Bajada, is issued a permit to develop its project, the Augustinians’ paltry Lm10,200 stands to turn into Lm680,000 – Lm10,000 for each tumulo of land.
As he contemplates the prospect of the Augustinian’s enrichment with such a far-reaching project, Fr Lucjan Borg says the order has every right to sit back and reap the profits from the land it has sold.
“We don’t want businessmen fooling us the same way they did in the past,” Borg says about how many local parishes dispensed off their lands for pittances to businessmen.
Instead, the provincial claims, the order will be getting a much greater, “fair value” of the land if Gozo Prestige Holidays are successful with their application to develop Hondoq ir-Rummien.The EUR75 million mega-project is indeed expansive: a five-star hotel, 285 residential units, even a yacht marina. After four long years of hibernation, the developers want to change to transform a disused quarry they claim will resemble “the work of nature itself”, giving the impression that the new village “evolved organically over the last century”.
The people of Qala are squarely against the project. Back in November 2002, following a campaign spearheaded by parish priest Dun Karm Refalo, 85 per cent of residents voted to keep Hondoq ir-Rummien free of development, in a referendum organised by the local council.
The new Nationalist-led council, has not yet made its position public on the project, a worrying prospect for many in the village.
Among the headaches for the nearby residents will include the ongoing construction of the hotel, right up until 2010, which will first start off with the extraction of 900,000 cubic metres of rock from the old quarry, to be stockpiled for re-use in nearby quarries. Excavation will take place over 15 to 18 months, where 60 trucks will leave every day between 7.00am to 7.00pm, six days a week.The developers claim they will be creating 200 jobs during construction and 400 new jobs once the project is underway.
Back in St Augustine parish church, Valletta, Fr Lucjan Borg protests against accusations that the order stands to profit from such a controversial project by sitting on the fence.
“Nobody ever gave us a cent. No government ever did. We need thousands for the extension of our school, and it was deemed appropriate that the Order should capitalise over its property so it can be able to forward its mission, which is education.”Unlike the transfer of land from the Church under the 1992 Church-State agreement, the Augustinians’ private transfer of land carries none of the obligations that prohibit such land from being developed for commercial reasons.
But Fr Borg refuses to “rationalise” what appears to be an ethical conundrum for the Augustinians, who stand to make a sizeable return from a project which has already been refused by the majority of Qala residents.
“Let’s be precise over where the battle is. If it’s a battle over the environment, we cannot rationalise something that was not an environmental concern back in the time when we sold it,” Borg says.
Borg admits he would like to see the environment “being safeguarded”, but he is adamant to see that the order is paid for the value of the land should it be given the green light for development.
“We’re indifferent. Don’t we have a right to remain neutral?”
But isn’t it immoral for the order to sit on the fence, ignoring the social ramifications of such a far-reaching project?
“Just because we’re priests? We’d have to say then that any capitalist transaction is immoral… With whose right can anyone force us to be against this project? If this is a legal endeavour, we also have our own civil rights.”
mvella@mediatoday.com.mt
posted by Hondoq at
8:56 AM
