Illegal dumping near helipad could pave way for Gozo airstrip

Ineffectual enforcement against illegal dumping in the archaeologically rich area next to the Xewkija heliport may serve as the pretext for the development of an airstrip over claims that the land is “disturbed”.

Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri presented a site plan where the runway will be extended to accommodate fixed-wing aircraft, telling Nationalist MP Chris Said in a reply to a PQ that works “are being proposed on an area where inert waste had been dumped in the past”.

It transpires that most of the area identified for the project was the subject of an enforcement order issued in 2010 against the dumping of material without a permit.  The enforcement is still considered an “active case” as no action was ever taken to remove the dumped material from the area.

The land around the Xewkija helipad is replete with enforcement notices issued by the Planning Authority over the last three decades

The planning enforcement was issued following a report against continuous illegal dumping in the area filed by Alternattiva Demokratika in 2008.

The party had warned that the authorities were turning a blind eye on dumping to justify the development of an airstrip.

Other enforcement notices against illegal dumping had been issued in 1995 and 1996 in close proximity to the heliport, but these were closed because the illegality was removed.

A permit to remove illegal dumping and deposit soil in the archaeologically rich area around the heliport was issued in December 2013, through a development notification order (DNO) a simplified planning procedure normally used for minor interventions or developments.

While the Gozo Ministry had claimed the works were carried out for the benefit of farmers and the environment, the Gozo Business Chamber and the Gozo Tourism Association had welcomed the works “in preparation for the Gozo airstrip”.

Despite these ‘works’, the area was still considered ‘disturbed’ as the area was not restored to its natural state.

One major obstacle to the project is the possibility of archaeological remains in the vicinity of the proposed area, some of which could have been covered by illegal dumping. According to the Superintendent for Cultural Heritage, the only official studies ever conducted on the area were carried out by the Museums Department in the mid-1990s.

“At the time it emerged that the footprint of the projected airstrip was to be located over an area almost entirely covered by recent dumping. This rendered the assessment of the land from an archaeological point of view virtually impossible,” acting Superintendent Nathaniel Cutajar had told MaltaToday in January 2007.

A separate survey of the site carried out by MEPA in 2006 claimed that “the preliminary archaeological survey did not register insurmountable problems (for the development of an airstrip) as the area has been predominantly heavily disturbed. But this does not mean that surprises cannot appear during the intervention stage.”

Experts told MaltaToday that any archaeological investigation would require the meticulous clearing of the entire site from any debris and soil cover, under strict supervision to ensure that any surviving remains are not destroyed in the process.

Xewkija is rich in archaeological remains, to the extent that archaeologist David Trump had noted “several fine pairs” of cart ruts in the olive grove west of the pumping station, just south of Xewkija, less than a kilometre away from the proposed airstrip.

In 1948, newspaper Il-Berqa revealed that parts of these cart ruts were vandalised when explosives were used to clear the ground for the olive grove.

In 2007, the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage had called for an environmental impact assessment if an application to extend the Ta’ Lambert airstrip in Gozo was presented to the Planning Authority.

The landing strip at Ta’ Lambert is actually considered in the Gozo-Comino local plan, which states that investigations must first be carried out to establish the development’s impact.

The local plan also states that the Planning Authority should assist the government in drafting the terms for a number of studies before a decision is taken, even before an environment impact assessment starts.

The studies made mandatory by the local plan include an economic feasibility study to determine envisaged long-term revenue against capital and operational costs, a social impact study on the nearby community, a study on land-use, and a study on alternatives to a hard runway such as the use of amphibious aircraft.

The impact on climate change could also be a thorny issue in view of official discourse projecting Gozo as an eco-island.

The airstrip saga

The airstrip saga dates back to the 1990s when an application was presented by the army to develop an airstrip in Xewkija, prompting protests by Alternattiva Demokratika and Friends of the Earth Malta.

Xewkija residents had also expressed concern on the noise impact of the proposed airstrip.

Stopping the application for the Gozo airstrip was one of Alfred Sant’s first decisions as prime minister in 1996.  But after 1998 the re-elected PN government kept entertaining the demands of business lobbies for an airstrip, as illegal dumping in the area continued unabated.

As the green lobby grew in strength and AD started making inroads in Gozo itself, the PN became more ambivalent to the project.

While not excluding the project completely, former tourism and environment minister Mario de Marco raised doubts on its sustainability. “One also needs to consider whether an airstrip in Gozo and enhanced accessibility can actually impact negatively the perception of the island that lures tourists to it,” De Marco had told MaltaToday in 2010.

Before the general election in February 2013, Joseph Muscat declared that the Gozo airstrip was “not a priority”, and that a helicopter service and a fast-ferry service between Mġarr and Valletta would be considered instead.  

But in a consultation meeting in July 2013 the tourism ministry announced that the government was considering a new 400-650m airstrip in Gozo in the Ta’ Lambert area.

In November 2013, the government confirmed that talks were on-going with an “Italian company” on an air-link between Malta, Gozo and Sicily, and funds for a study on an airstrip were included in the national budget.

Plans were also forwarded to Brussels for a 900m-long rural airfield in Gozo with the aim of tapping into EU funding for the estimated €14 million project. 

The airstrip – capable of handling both internal flights and air traffic from the surrounding regions – was meant to be completed by 2017. The document sent to the EU had stated that a new airstrip could more than double Gozo’s tourist arrivals. 

In March 2014, Joseph Muscat announced that the government was considering the construction of a grass airstrip in Gozo, but a completed feasibility study was never published or presented to parliament.

Following the backlash on proposed ODZ development in Żonqor, the airstrip disappeared from government’s radar. The proposal was recently re-exhumed in a consultation document by the Gozo Regional Development Authority, a regulatory authority chaired by Gozitan entrepreneur Michael Grech.

It said technical experts engaged to prepare the plans for a regional airport were asked not to use additional agricultural land; reduce the environmental impact of the airport; and ensure it is able to accommodate airplanes that can carry between nine and 11 passengers.

Clint Camilleri did not publish the actual designs for the proposed airport but insisted these will be released in “the coming weeks” by the Gozo Regional Development Authority.

A public consultation exercise will gather feedback on the proposal, after which government will decide what amendments need to be done, or if the project will be implemented at all.