Following Parliament’s hasty decision to hand over public land to the Sadeen Jordanian investors, Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar maintains that the public has been deprived of its land for a pittance. The public has also been deprived of its legal right to participate in the planning process according to the EU Directive, as the whole site selection process was a sham, ignoring alternatives that would have been much more beneficial to the national interest on social, environmental and also economic terms.
Added to the fact that the MEPA CEO acted as facilitator, and not regulator of this project, yesterday’s revelation that the application is not for a university but for a ‘higher education institution’ is one of the many irregularities that has characterised this project and has entrenched mistrust in the government’s handling of such matters.
The implications of this decision will be felt in the future, as traffic in Marsaskala and Cospicua increases, bringing with it pollution and health problems. Government is refusing to admit that this project will be changing the social dynamics of these areas in a radical and irrevocable way, to the detriment of the two communities and Malta in general.
Since Malta has one of the lowest rates of unemployment in Europe, a project employing 300 persons, many of whom will be foreign, does not justify robbing the Maltese of their birthright and further raping the land. Having earned independence in 1964, Malta has now entered a new era of colonialism, with parcels land and heritage buildings being given away to foreign entities without the consent of the public and against the national interest.
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Wara id-decizjoni ghaggilija biex il-Parlament jaghti art pubblika lill-kumpanija ta’ Sadeen, Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar jghid li l-pubbliku gie imcahhad mill-art tieghu ghal prezz ridikolu. Il poplu malti gie imcahhad ukoll mid-dritt legali tieghu li jippartecipa fil-process ghax dan ma kienx hlief dahq fil-wicc peress li gew injorati alternattivi ferm ahjar jezistu, sia mill-ghad socjali u ambjentali, kif ukoll ekononmiku.
Biex inzidu ma dan, huwa fatt li ic-CEO tal-MEPA aktar kellu rwol ta’ xi hadd li iffacilita il-process milli regulatur. Dak li gie irrevelat ilbierah – li l-applikazzjoni se ssur mhux ghal universita` izda bhala istitut ta’ edukazzjoni gholi – huwa biss wiehed mill-hafna irregolaritajiet li ikkaratterizzaw dan il-progett, li dejjem qed iwassal ghal aktar nuqqas ta’ fiducja fil-mod kif jagixxi l-gvern fis-settur tal-ippjanar.
Ghad inhossu ir-riperkussjonijiet tal din id-decisjoni fil-futur, hekk kif it-traffiku jzid fl-inhawi u jgib mieghu problem ta’ tniggiz u ta’ sahha, u hekk kif bicca ohra ta’ art tittiehed ghall-bini. Il-gvern qed jirrifjuta li jammetti li dal-progett ser jbiddel id-dinamika socjali b’mod radikali u irrevokabbli ghal-iskapitu tal-Maltin.
Peress li Malta hija wahda mill-pajjizi bl-inqas rata ta’ qaghd fl-EU, dal-progett li ser jimpiega biss 300 persuna, fosthom hafna barranin, m’ghandu l-ebda gustificazzjoni biex jisraq il-wirt tal-Maltin u jkompli thassar l-ambjent. Wara li rbahjna l-indipendenza fil-1964, issa rgajna dhalna f-era ta’ kolonializmu, bl-ghotja ta’ bicciet ta’ art mdaqqsin u binjiet ta’ valur storiku lill-kumpanniji barranin minghajr il-kunsens tal-poplu u kontra l-interess nazzjonali.
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