The Traffic Impact of the Qala Creek Project Development

Published on www.gozonews.com on Wednesday, 28th October, 2010 by Michael Carol Bartolo.A high standard of living implies a deep thought about crucial decisions regarding the environment. This is of course important since the concept of sustainable development and at of tsustainable environment are on top of global agendas and it is in our concern to take part into this human right and protect it. It must be in our concern to protect the environment for future generations and this must be very healthy and more practicable in Malta since Malta is of course a small island. A crucial issue which is now being on top of Maltese political and social programs is the issue regarding the Development of Hondoq ir-Rummien Bay known also as Qala Creek Project Development. Of course the traffic impact plays an important role in this development and following this is its impact on the village of Qala and the island of Gozo since we must also take into consideration this issue if we want truly that Eco Gozo Progamme initiated by the MEPA would be of course a success.

In our village of Qala, every morning we have a big problem, because of the traffic congestion that strangles the main streets of the village square. And what about the arterial road which will be opened besides the Sanctuary of Immaculate Conception to fit quarry trucks where they will be destroying enriched environment and nature which makes our village and Gozo’s environment more beautiful and picturesque?

Recently the National Statistics Office (NSO) published the (‘Transport Statistics 2009′) which mainly consists of the incident rates in Gozo between 2006 and 2008. It emerges that there was an increase of 1.2% of the incidents held in 2008 over that of 2007 which means that the rate of incidents in Gozo is increasing. On 1st January this year, two accidents were held in Imgarr Road Qala in the same place. This road is one of the busiest roads in Gozo. And I ask by how much the number of accidents is going to increase with the traffic intensification of 731 cars (the capacity of the mentioned car park) and all those who visit the bay and the workers starts functioning?

In the report issued by the developers as indicated in the Moviment Harsien Hondoq websitehttp://www.soshondoq.blogspot.com/, only 90 parkings in the mentioned car park is reserved for the public when in Hondoq usually more than 300 cars are found parked. According to the ‘Traffic Impact Assesment’, the traffic count which took place in Mgarr Road Qala, was made one near the primary school, the other in the cross roads (which is 1.3kms from Qala Square) and the other near Saint Anthony’s Church where the road takes you to the Mgarr Hotel which is 1.8km from Qala Square. In my opinion, a traffic count like this looks to be more adequate for people of Ghajnsielem than for the people of Qala. And I ask, who gave them the terms of reference?

Do not forget that CO2 emissions in the air are still increasing. The report ‘Atmospheric Lead Concentration Level in The Maltese Islands’, issued by MEPA which deals with emissions of CO2 Malta and Gozo, clearly shows that Qala is the second most highly polluted village in Gozo and two times polluted more than Rue D’Argens in Msida. So can we call this a sustainable development if there will be such an increase of traffic if the project terminates? Of course not! Besides that the quarry trucks used in this project will pass through this arterial road to avoid traffic from the vicinity of the Sanctuary of Immaculate Conception, traffic problem of this project in Qala and in Gozo is not solved, but instead, the problem is being transferred from one village to another and this is obviously not good for the other villages being affected. Is this what we call seriousness?!

Do not forget that the decision we make today will affect future generations and it would be a shame on us if we let such development terminates. In 2002 Referendum, 85% of the people of Qala, voted against this development. Clearly the majority of us are against this development! We are in favor of transforming the quarry into a National Park but not in favor of the proposed project! This is just a Monster out of its place!

We are proud that of having beach like this!! Let’s SAVE it!! Don’t give up in front of those who want to get rid of Hondoq! Who loves Qala, loves all the things belonging to it.

We are strong against the developers and won’t give up for sure!

The last word but not the least, people of Qala keep strong, and don’t give up saying: NO FOR QALA CREEK AND YES FOR THE SALVATION OG HONDOQ!!

To view the comments, go to http://gozonews.com/15185/the-traffic-impact-of-the-qala-creek-project-development-2/

Ħondoq ir-Rummien

Pubblikata fuq l-Orizzont minn J. Cachia, Paola. Sur Editur, Fil-paġna “Aħna l-Għawdxin” (tat-2 ta’ Ottubru) kien hemm daqsxejn ta’ artiklu “Dawn x’bu żullotti huma?” dwar il-proġett propost tal-iżvilupp f’Ħondoq ir-Rummien. Intqal li l-Qalin, li huma mmexxijin mill-kunsill lokali, ivvotaw snin ilu kontra dan il-proġett. Intqal ukoll li “issa ħareġ fil-beraħ il-każ tal-Viċi-Sindku tal-Qala, li wara snin flimkien ma’ sħabu, jopponi dan il-proġett, issa ħareġ jaqbel miegħu.” U ftit wara ntwera li “l-Qalin ma jri dux jitilfu dak li ilhom minn dejjem igawdu...” Min qed jikteb jaf biss li l-Qala qiegħda f’Għawdex, xiehda li turi kemm jaf fejn hu Ħondoq ir-Rummien.

U waqt li qed ngħid hekk wisq naħseb kemm il-MEPA tista’ tkun taf kemm Ħondoq ir-Rummien hu marbut ma’ qalb il-Qalin. Illum il-ġurnata b’dak li nkiteb dwar il-MEPA fil-ġurnali bil-Malti kif ukoll bl-Ingliż hu magħruf sew li l-MEPA, illum taħseb mod u għada tista’ taħseb mod ieħor. Rigward il-Viċi-Sindku, forsi jista’ juri lill-sħabu tal-kunsill, ir-raġuni għa liex bidel fehemtu. Jekk issa qal li “l-proġett jista’ joħloq impjiegi għall-ġenerazzjoni żagħ żu­għa”, dan ifisser li ntilfu impjiegi tul is-snin li “flimkien ma’ sħabu jop poni l-proġett.” Dan hu każ klassiku tal-prinċipju tas-sussidjarjetà, li tant sa ret propaganda bih biex jin ħolqu l-kunsilli lokali. Għax is-sussidjarjetà ma tfisser xejn ħlief konsulta lil ta’ taħt, jiġifieri liċ-ċittadini, biex tkun taf ir-rieda tagħhom fuq xi ħaġa qabel ma tittieħed deċiżjoni fuq dik il-ħaġa li tinteressahom. Għalhekk issa jmiss lill-kunsill lokali biex fl-interess tal-Qalin ma jħallix “bużullotti” jsiru tassew bużullotti. Dan jista’ jagħmlu billi jagħ mel referendum biex jikkonsulta u juri r-rieda tal-Qalin dwar Ħondoq ir-Rummien. U r-riżul tat, ikun xi jkun, jintwera – mhux lill-MEPA – imma lill-Gvern. Ammen.

Qala Creek project & regional airport an Eco-Gozo concept?

Published on www.gozonews.com on Sunday 10th October, 2010 by James A. Tyyrrel.

I was reading the article by Alan Deidun entitled “Rising phenomena ODZ parties” that appeared in the Times on Sunday, 3rd October 2010. He refers to an article by Raymond Xerri entitled Gozo as an Ecological Island – Some Proposals, that appeared in The Gozo Observer (No.18) – June 2008. Some of the proposals made by Raymond Xerri struck Alan Deidun as strange and they certainly struck me as strange too.

For example, Raymond Xerri states and I quote; “Gozo urgently needs an economic stimulus to reduce the higher unemployment levels and halt the constant need for migration to Malta and abroad. This can be achieved first and foremost through the creation of a regional airport between Xewkija and Ghajnsielem and attracting regional and low cost airlines to the island.” Raymond we keep hearing the same thing that an airport or a big new hotel is going to solve all the unemployment issues but we know from past experience this is not the case. Isn’t it a fact Raymond that a great many of hotel and restaurant workers in Gozo are foreigners rather than locals? And again, are jobs as chambermaids and waiters all we aspire to offer Gozitan graduates? If only all the energy spent on promoting an airport in Gozo had been spent on promoting service industries to set up there, (instead of being hijacked by Malta even when they were destined for Gozo), by now we might have been able to offer Gozitan youths a real future in Gozo.

Raymond Xerri further states, “Besides the Mgarr Port yachting sector another port should be identified to cater for the growing demand from the yachting industry for more berthing space _ the Qala Creek project is an option.” I assume Raymond that by the “yachting industry” you are not taking into account the many local boat owners who are being forced out of their berths at Mgarr by increased charges set by the arrogant new management, ignoring Gozitan boat owners’ rights? If extra berths are needed then the obvious place for them is Mgarr, which is already established as a marina, not in a pristine area like Hondoq.

Now whilst I found the vast majority of the points raised by Raymond Xerri made a lot of sense in the context of an Eco-Gozo concept I find the above two points rather fly in the face of any such concept. Perhaps Raymond Xerri would be good enough to tell the Gozitan people and in particular his own people in Qala just how these two proposals fit into any Eco-Gozo idea. Could he also explain how he came to the conclusion that a “regional airport” would be good for Gozo? Copies of any reports or feasibility studies he has referred to in coming to his conclusions will of course be useful

Furthermore it would be interesting to hear from Dr. Xerri why after expressing these views in favour of an airport and of the Qala Creek project in June 2008, on 30th September 2009 he went on to sign a declaration by the local council in Qala stating that he was against any such marina at Hondoq. I look forward to hearing from the good doctor about this sudden change of heart and where his weathervane convictions now stand.

To view the comments, go to http://gozonews.com/14972/qala-creek-project-regional-airport-an-eco-gozo-concept/

Rising phenomena

Part of an article published on the Times of Malta on Sunday 3rd October, 2010 by Alan Deidun.

An aberrant eco-Gozo view

Many have expressed their tuppence worth over the eco-Gozo philosophy and it has been an incestuous meshing of the sacred and the profane so far.

One such contribution was penned by Raymond Xerri in a past issue of the Gozo Observer. In the article he makes many comm-endable and almost sacrosanct pro-posals, including the removal of alien floral species, the setting up of public parks, further afforestation schemes, the development of a solar tower and the reconstruction of rubble walls. But he also makes some proposals which are, frankly, preposterous.

His vision for eco-Gozo, envisages a yacht marina at Ħondoq ir-Rummien in Qala, a regional airport at Xewkija and two artificial islands off Gozo’s northern coastline.

How Xerri manages to put the last three proposals in the same kettle as eco-Gozo beats me, although one must mention that he is the only local councillor in Qala to be in favour of the Qala Creek development proposal.

To view the whole article and the comments go to http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20101003/environment/rising-phenomena

Tletin biċċa tal-fidda?

Ppublikata minn l-Orizzont minn Ghawdxi Pur.

Min m’għandux faħam mib lul ma jibżax juri fhemtu, aktar u aktar meta s-Sur Scerri biddel fehmtu wara snin jiġġie led kontra l-proġett ta’ Ħondoq ir-Rummien.

“Ibża miż-żelu tal-ikkonvertiet,” qalli darba politiku magħ ruf, u hekk hu. Stenna li issa s-Sur Scerri joħroġ b’ruħu u ġismu favur il-proġett. Jien lanqas biss jgħaddili minn moħ ħi, li s-Sur Scerri bniedem magħruf sew, se jbigħ ġieħu għal 30 biċċa tal-fidda. Mela dawn l-affarijiet jiġru f’Għawdex!? F’Malta kellna wkoll min kien favur il-proġett tal-es tens joni tal-power station. Wara dawn sabu ruħhom kon sulenti ma’ kumpanija li se tbill subajha sew f’dan il-pro ġett

Mhux qed ngħid li s-Sur Scerri hu xi konsulent ma’ xi ħadd li għandu interess fil-pro ġett ta’ Ħondoq ir-Rummien. Żgur li le. Imma jimpor ta jgħidilna x’biddillu fehem tu?

Hondoq and power station extension projects are not cases of sustainable development, PL says

Published on the Malta Independent.

Under the theme, ‘Tourism and Biodiversity’, World Tourism Day was celebrated around the globe yesterday, with the Opposition calling on the government to practise what it preaches and ensure that any development which takes place does not destroy Malta’s environmental landscape.

The Labour Party’s (PL) shadow minister for tourism, Marie-Louise Coleiro-Preca, said in a statement yesterday that tourism will remain the pillar of Malta’s economy in the years ahead, but strengthening this sector of the economy should not come at the cost of destroying the environment.

She cited the Delimara power station extension and the proposed Hondoq ir-Rummien project as two examples which the Labour Party feels do not fall under the category of ‘sustainable development’, but which, in her own words, “are two projects which are playing a big part in the destruction of Malta’s biodiversity”.

Hondoq and power station extension projects are not cases of sustainable development, PL says

Published on the Malta Independent.

Under the theme, ‘Tourism and Biodiversity’, World Tourism Day was celebrated around the globe yesterday, with the Opposition calling on the government to practise what it preaches and ensure that any development which takes place does not destroy Malta’s environmental landscape.

The Labour Party’s (PL) shadow minister for tourism, Marie-Louise Coleiro-Preca, said in a statement yesterday that tourism will remain the pillar of Malta’s economy in the years ahead, but strengthening this sector of the economy should not come at the cost of destroying the environment.

She cited the Delimara power station extension and the proposed Hondoq ir-Rummien project as two examples which the Labour Party feels do not fall under the category of ‘sustainable development’, but which, in her own words, “are two projects which are playing a big part in the destruction of Malta’s biodiversity”.