Hard-core development

Published on the Times of Malta on Monday, 31st May, 2010 by LIno Spiteri.

The goings-on in Greece are contributing to a rise in cruise liners calling at Malta. That is not the first time Malta has benefited from the woes of other Mediterranean people. While sorry for our Greek colleagues, we welcome the increase in business, for one harsh reality of economic life too remains that one man's meat is another man's poison.

Nevertheless, temporary cheer cannot be one of the building blocks of a healthy touristy industry. Those blocks are made up of what the Maltese Islands have to offer, and on our combined efforts to maintain and improve such attractions to make them sustainable.

It is an embedded contradictory reality that development can run counter to sustainability. Which is why it was encouraging to read in yesterday's Sunday Times carefully crafted words by the Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, Mario de Marco, about the need to safeguard sustainability in the context of the very substantial development project proposed to take place in Ħondoq ir-Rummien.

The project, whatever its design merits might be, is one of the most significant current examples of the challenging balance which must be achieved between development threats and opportunities. It includes not only massive works to turn an ugly disused quarry into an attempt original to Malta to create "hanging" buildings, plus a large hotel and the amenities it requires. The development also includes a yacht marina.

Most voices in Gozo other than that of the developer, while cautiously welcoming the hotel project, are against the yacht marina. For the simple reason that the boats it will no doubt attract will surely pollute to some extent or another the beautiful clear waters of what is a cove more than a bay.

While welcoming the proper rehabilitation of the disused quarry I also have reservations about the wisdom of locating an onshore development in that area. It has already been defaced by the desalination plant; yet it remains one of the most beautiful otherwise unspoilt locations in Gozo.

I do not know exactly what the government understands by the appellation it has given to the island of eco-Gozo. But surely it should include more than eco-energy and must start with protecting the natural open-air environs of the isle where we enjoy reading that Calypso bewitched Ulysses with nothing but natural charm in pristine surroundings.

If development there must be, the architect involved, a name of good standing, may be expected to make a good job of it, so far as it goes. Yet, question remains, should it go that far?

Another proposed project which contradicts the objective of protecting Malta's attractions is a large residential development in the heart of Balzan. The cores of our old villages may at times need rehabilitation. They are, however, prime examples of what remains of traditional Malta. Village tourism has not taken off yet - it can do so, with the aid of well-preserved village cores.

Such preservation is more evident by its absence. The practice of knocking down old buildings, not infrequently to replace them with apartments above shopping outlets, has extended to various village cores. That creeping practice should be discontinued, rather than fuelled.

There is a future in tourism, but not if we destroy part of what can attract visitors while neglecting historical jewels like our bastions, which are at last getting attention, and peculiar examples of the stay of the Knights of St John here, like the wash house outside Mdina.

Dr de Marco and his tourism team have a hard act to execute. It involves enticing tourists to Malta in the face of stiff competition, which can only succeed provided we retain and improve those features which make the Maltese islands a unique selling proposition.

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