Mepa must apologise

Published on the Malta Independent on Sunday 20th June, 2010 by Angelo Xerri.

I refer to the Mepa public hearing on the Qala Creek Project at Hondoq ir-Rummien that was held on Thursday 27 May, which many people from different countries in Europe, mostly English, attended. They were there to represent the 300 or so people that live in Qala village. These people were never given a chance to know what was going on because the meeting was held in Maltese, so most of them walked out of the meeting feeling frustrated and let down. There was nobody to blame for this except Mepa, because it took the advice of the handful of people that supported the project. Some of the supporters the developers brought in had never been to Qala before but were asked to back the project at the hearing. Mepa conducted this hearing using the law of the jungle. Mepa must apologize to these people, not only to the ones that live in Qala but also to the rest of the people from other countries that live on these islands. These people that live in Qala are part of the community so they have rights. They chose to live in Qala because they like Gozo and prefer Hondoq ir-Rummien to many other beautiful places in Europe. They spend their money in Qala and Gozo, buy properties, pay taxes, they bring their friends for holidays; they are an attraction for tourists to Gozo, and an asset to the community. They must not be ignored, and the way they were treated at the hearing made me ashamed of being Gozitan. After all these people are also Europeans and not foreigners.