Social anthropologist critical of part of Hondoq EIA
Published on the Malta Independent on Sunday 6th June, 2010 by Francesca Vella.
The developers are proposing the construction of a massive project comprising a hotel, yacht marina and tourist village on the 68-tumoli site.
Prof. Boissevain’s comments on the “Qala Creek EIA: Social Aspects” – drawn up by Prof. Mario Vassallo – were presented to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (Mepa) a few days ago.
Prof. Boissevain quoted the Maltese lecturer’s report: “The overall social impact of the project is definitely positive, despite the residue of opposition to it. It will transform what is currently a dumping site into a vibrant centre of activity.”
However, said the Dutch professor, judging by the systematically recorded negative opinion of the Qala respondents, Prof. Vassallo’s comment that “The project is bound to be a win-win project for all Gozitans who benefit from the project as it develops”, is misleading.
A majority of Gozitans may regard it as a “win-win” development, but the majority of Qala residents do not, stated Prof. Boissevain.
He added that the initial very strong opposition to the project among the villagers closest to the project is still present in Qala. The majority massively oppose the central elements of the project: the villas, the holiday apartments and the marina.
The Dutch professor goes on to say that the EIA report signals the fact that although there has been a shift in favour of the project since 2002, there is still an element of opposition to it in Gozo, the neighbouring villages and especially in Qala.
Prof. Vassallo suggests that this opposition “could be due to lack of proper information and an element of herd instinct typical of small societies because when the project details were explained during the interviews, opinion immediately shifted in a significant number of cases and admiration rather than condemnation immediately ensued”.
Prof. Boissevain refers to this as an assumption, because, he says, this may have been the case for those interviewed in Nadur and Ghajnsielem, but it does not manifestly apply to those interviewed in Qala.
Generally, the more they learned about the project, the more negative they became, he said. For example, when Qala residents were first asked for their views on the proposed villas, 53.8 per cent said they did not like the idea.
When they were shown the artist’s impression of what the development would look like, 70 per cent of residents did not like the idea. Similarly, with respect to the construction of the 200 holiday apartments, the negative opinion increased from 40 to 70 per cent, said Prof. Boissevain.
“There is a very real concern among the residents of Qala that the project will irrevocably destroy an important element of their surroundings that they regard as fundamental to their social well-being, namely their shared meetings and socialising at the beach and evenings barbequing.”
The Dutch professor also mentioned “the very serious consideration” that, despite the scaling down of the project, its present scale, in the words of Prof. Vassallo “is still considered to be too huge for the area”.
This, said Prof. Boissevain, was the only fundamental criticism of the project in the Vassallo report. “Prof. Vassallo’s comments are sensible and should be implemented. His observation should be highlighted.”
He goes on to criticise Prof. Vassallo’s remarks that he is unable to comment on how the project will affect quality of life. He said this important lacuna is a consequence of Prof. Vassallo failing to fully put into practice the more detailed terms of reference.
The original research was carried out using much more restricted terms of reference than the more detailed ones affixed to the 2008/9 report, but the contents of Prof. Vassallo’s two reports (both dated 2007) are virtually identical, said Prof. Boissevain.
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