Labour Party non-committal on spring hunting

The Labour Party has failed to pronounce a concrete stand on spring hunting, despite criticism raised against leader Joseph Muscat that he has had several meetings with both hunters and environmentalists in which he has reportedly "promised" both sides that the party would work hard to address their concerns.

Labour did not only fail to declare its position with regards to spring hunting in Malta, but also failed to pronounce its proposals on the issue.

In a very general and wide comment, the PL told MaltaToday that all hunters should be treated fairly:

"The Labour Party believes that Maltese and Gozitan hunters should have the same rights to practice their hobbies as much as other European hunters."

Spring hunting is prohibited by the Birds Directive in order to protect wild birds during their migration from Africa to breeding grounds in Europe.

The only other EU country that has derogated to allow spring hunting was Spain, according to the latest EU environment report, published in 2008.

Asked whether, if elected, a Labour government would guarantee a spring hunting season, the PL said it would not give hunters false hopes.

"Labour will not act irresponsibly and give guarantees to hunters that cannot be kept as GonziPN has done in recent past. We are not in the business of fake promises," the PL said.

Among much criticism raised by the hunters' federation, FKNK, spring hunting 2012 opened last Thursday until April 30.

The hunters lambasted government's decision to open the season as "insulting" and said that they were disappointed that the decision did not reflect the requirements of the EU directive.

The hunters themselves decried the decision as based on the "government's own political needs".

On the other hand, when confronted by MaltaToday, the Labour Party failed to say whether it agreed with how the season was opened. Despite the criticism, the PL also did not comment on whether it agreed on how the Ornis Committee is functioning.

Government opened the season on recommendation of the Ornis Committee - composed of government-appointed Louis Cilia, two FKNK members and two BirdLife Malta members - submitted on 20 March.

In the last meeting before the submission of the recommendation, BLM chose against attending the meeting in protest against the recommendation. The environmental NGO said Cilia had sent his recommendations to the committee members two days before the meeting, giving scant time for consideration of the document.