Threatened by monster development

Published on the Times of Malta on Sunday 6th June, 2010 by Giacomo Spina, Penny Evans Spina, Qala

We refer to your front-page report of May 30 regarding the proposed development at Ħondoq ir-Rummien in Gozo. We have lived for years on the outskirts of Qala and have come to love the swimming at Ħondoq beach and the surrounding countryside.

This idyllic scenery is again threatened by a monster development: in a bay where, at most, you could place a small picturesque marina, 30 or so stylish villas and one boutique hotel, they want to pile up 285 cubicles for speculators, a hotel, a large marina, parking spaces, shops, etc., and also leave some real space for the public.

Gozo is in better shape than Malta, but the top is already overbuilt; what is left for current and future generations is the escarpment, miraculously preserved by Muslim pirates and the Church mortmain.

The stretch of escarpment between Ħondoq and Ramla contains some Dantesque geological ruins we have not seen anywhere in the Mediterranean and beyond. They start today with Ħondoq, then it will be the turn of Ramla, then Daħlet Qorrot, then San Blas.

We believe that national parks are all that are required to preserve the best parts of a country.

The function of national parks, from Scandinavia to Sicily, is there for all to see. We sincerely hope Parliamentary Secretary Mario de Marco will take Gozo's side.

To add insult to injury, the developers want to carry hundreds of thousands of tons of material from the Ħondoq quarry to the hard stone quarry - both lying on the coast - inland by heavy trucks.

Those familiar with the economics of carrying large quantities of bulk cargo agree that this is best done by barge, even without considering the hardship inflicted on the people and the harm caused to the environment and the encroachment and destruction of roads.

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