Ramblers release electoral memorandum for politicians

The Ramblers' Association of Malta has announced a series of policy recommendations for a future government to implement in order to guarantee "a greater stewardship of Malta's natural heritage" for its citizens.

The suggestions arise from the association's experiences during the past legislatures and from the difficulties it has faced in attempting to protect the public good.

The association is recommending a greater empowerment of environmental NGOs to act against environmental abuse through public funding, access to State media and professional legal and planning advice.

The association is recommending an indefinite moratorium on further development zone extension. ODZ applications should be discouraged through higher processing fees and stricter controls, as well as prohibiting abusive change of use for ODZ constructions.

The association is proposing a separation between the planning and environmental protection arms of MEPA, akin to Labour's proposal for MEPA.

And echoing the Green party's own policy, the Ramblers want parliamentary scrutiny of planning board members, democratic participation of environmental NGOs on the said board and meritocracy for all other appointments.

"The resulting Environment Protection Authority (EPA) should not be rendered powerless with respect to the Planning Authority. To implement this, we recommend the former having veto power over planning applications which affect ecologically sensitive areas," the Ramblers' Association said.

"The EPA should implement without delay measures to curb the theft of groundwater from the public by regulating all boreholes and introducing appropriate tariffs. Effective enforcement and criminal action should be taken in cases of unacceptable levels of air pollution caused by power stations, industrial establishments, incinerators and vehicular traffic."

The association is also asking for citizens' right of access to the countryside to be safeguarded.

"The Government Property Division must adopt more transparent procedures in its granting of titles and stop abusive titles over government land which are used to privatise access to the countryside. A definitive map of Malta identifying public, private and Church property, as well as public service paths through private land is to be published."

The association called for all squatters to be evicted from public land, and in particular, from the Armier settlement.

"People occupying public land illegally are culpable of the theft of this land from the public. Political parties should stop undermining the rule of law through the granting of amnesties as this leads to the paradoxical situation wherein law abiding citizens are penalised while law breakers are rewarded."

The association also joined in with calls from other environmental NGOs not to even consider the Ħondoq ir-Rummien, Ta' Ċenċ, and Ramla l-Ħamra projects, while downsizing the Manoel Island development.

The RA also said the Gozo airstrip and Gozo tunnel necessitated "very serious Environmental Impact Assessment studies because both could lead to irreversible environmental degradation."