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Decisions on spring hunting, Armier boathouses ‘to be based on country’s best interest’
MaltaToday on Sunday publishes survey on spring hunting, Armier boathouses and the bridge to Gozo.
13 July 2013, 12:00am
Miriam Dalli
Miriam Dalli
1 min read
Long overdue decisions on spring hunting and illegal Armier boathouses will be based on "the country's best interest" according to the electoral mandate which the government enjoys, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said today.
Muscat was replying to questions raised by this newspaper ahead of a survey to be published tomorrow on MaltaToday on Sunday. The survey tackles spring hunting, the Gozo bridge and, for the first time, gauges the respondents' opinion on the Armier boathouses.
Past MaltaToday surveys have consistently shown a majority that supports a spring hunting ban.
Asked whether he intends to give heed to the people's will on spring hunting and the illegal squatters at Armier, Muscat said he based his decisions on "the country's best interest" and not on what surveys show.
On immigration, he said, decisions were being taken according to the national interest.
"God forbid a government basis its decisions on surveys," the Prime Minister said.
In defining what sort of decisions would represent the country's best interest on spring hunting and Armier, Muscat said the government will follow its electoral mandate.
"Our electoral programme was clear and we are determined to follow it, while always prioritising the legality of the issue," he said.
While Armier boathouses do not feature in Labour's electoral programme - the party had reached an agreement with the lobby representing the owners two days before the general election - on hunting and trapping the government committed itself to respecting EU regulations.
Miriam Dalli joined MaltaToday.com.mt in 2010 becoming assistant editor f...
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By these words, Muscat confirms that he is more interested in pandering to the illegalities of minorities than representing the law abiding majority.
Thanks.
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May someone should ask JM what is the country's best interest?
Possible answers:
Armier: squatters have taken over public land so since the land belongs to the country then they should all be evicted.
Spring Hunting: birds are a natural and international (including Maltese) heritage; birds are on their way to their breeding grounds, hence decimation of these species is in the national and national interest apart from that of the birds themselves!
Bridge/Tunnel etc. What is the national interest in this case? Gozo is a unique Island and its insularity make it such; the number of people on the Island is far less than that on Malta so it is in the interest of the Maltese people to retain the current isolation but improve the sea crossing so that while the island could prosper, it would still retain its own characteristics. People fail to realize that whether a tunnel or a bridge connection is ever built, they would probably still have to pay a fee for the crossing, something which is being missed in the ongoing debate. The impacts created by the bridge on the surrounding Natura 2000 sites is definitely not in the national and international interest.
Maybe the prime minister has a different definition of National Interest- in that case he should clearly spell it out now, otherwise he is into another mess-up like the one we had this week! Then there would be a lot of backtracking to do. Or maybe he enjoys thinking that he could keep taking everyone for a joyride.
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Yes all shanty towns should be torn apart and maybe boathouses put instead as happened in the case of Qawra but when mentioning boathouses I mean boathouses which means no water and electricity installed , I am not referring to summer residences.Even way back in 1976 the government built boathouses had water and electricity installed!
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@Tony65 Ovvjament le, nghamlu dak kollu illi weghdna lill-minoranzi (minghajr ma ghedna wiehed lill-iehor x'kellna f'mohhna li nghamlu mal-minoranzi l-ohrajn!) anke jekk hu hazin ghall-maggoranza, hux hekk? It's called divide and rule -- and clearly the way the PL, led by Muscat, works...
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@joexerri Kemm int buffu! Il-gvern tieghek addotta l-istess budget, **u** mar ghand kull minoranza u wieghed l-ilma jizfen (inkluzi l-musulmani li tant toghboduhom nies bhalek!). Lill-kulhadd xtara!
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@joexerri Kemm int buffu! Il-gvern tieghek addotta l-istess budget, **u** mar ghand kull minoranza u wieghed l-ilma jizfen (inkluzi l-musulmani li tant toghboduhom nies bhalek!). Lill-kulhadd xtara!
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HARDY HAR HAR - in other words, we shall embark upon another outstanding exercise in cynical opportunism, calculate whom PL is most indebted to financially and politically and redefine that as being in the best interests of 'the people'. HA HA HA HA
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Shall we tear down Armier Village and by that they mean tearing down every boathouse and illegal building sitting on government land all over Malta and Gozo? Because if you demolish all the boathouses built illegally on public land at Armier Village then the government must demolish the illegal boathouses at Little Armier, Ghadira those in the Dwejra Inlet at Gozo and any other illegally built boathouse in the country. What will the government do with all that pristine empty land? Maybe let the developers build high rises like they did at Port Thomaso? Damn if you do, damned if you don't. We have to rely on the courts to make the decision, because the government is not going to make it. I think that those dozen or so caravans still are still sitting in the same place at Little Armier like they have been for years even though the court ruled for their removal. This decision has to be made by the court the question is will the government obey the court ruling?
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@tweetybirdie---- fundamentally, it's called trading in influence. Politicians will do ANYTHING underhand for a few votes.
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So mr tweetybirdie if the majory hate motorbikes we ban motorbikes?? if the majority hate speedboats we ban speedboats??? grow up,,, the people are much more mature Mr Tweetybird
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@tweetybirdie
Min qed jitkellem!!! Insejt li ftit qabel l- elezzjoni il-gvern tieghek ghamel budget u naqqas it taxxa meta kien jaf li il- pajjiz ma jiflahx ghaliha ghax mimli dejn? Din mhux mossa biex tigbor il- voti kienet? Ghandkhom tahsbu li kullhadd mazzun, ma titghallmu qatt.
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When you sell your soul to the devil (in the form of minority groups) in order to get yourself elected, you have to 'pay' people back for their support... so who cares what the people want!
