ODZ threat mobilizes 3,000-strong Valletta protest

In what has been billed as the “largest citizens’ protest ever” some 3,000 people travelled to Valletta yesterday to rally against the proposed development of a university at Zonqor Point on land lying outside the development zones (ODZ).

Front Harsien ODZ spokesperson Michael Briguglio described the protest as one that the Prime Minister “cannot ignore” and hailed it as Malta’s “largest ever citizens’ protest”.

It did not seem it would be that at the start, with just a few hundreds having gathered outside the new Parliament building, its point of departure, 15 minutes before the protest was due to begin.

But the protest, backed by the Nationalist Party, Alternattiva Demokratika and some 30 NGOs expanded rapidly as the protestors marched along Malta’s premier street, Republic Street, with the throng at one point stretching from the law courts all the wide way to the corner of South Street.

Addressing the cheering crowds from the law court steps at the end of the protest, an impassioned Briguglio said that the protestors have “shown the Prime Minister that Malta is truly taghna lkoll (belongs to all of us),” echoing Muscat’s electoral battle cry.

“Malta doesn’t belong to major contractors or people who make agreements behind the public’s backs, despite having promised transparency,” Briguglio said. “Muscat cannot ignore all these protestors who belong to all sides of the political spectrum.”

He called on the Prime Minister to immediately publish the Heads of Agreement that the government signed in May with Jordanian construction firm Sadeen, through which the latter aims to build a private university.

Briguglio hit out at Muscat for announcing a vacancy for the position of director within MEPA’s Environment Directorate a day before the protest was held.

“The Environment Directorate weren’t even consulted on the selection of Zonqor for the university,” Briguglio pointed out. “We’re not after gimmicks.

“If Muscat is truly a Prime Minister who is taghna lkoll he has no other choice but to immediately put to an end to the proposed development in Zonqor.”

Longtime environmentalist and Ramblers’ honorary president Lino Bugeja declared that the protest will go down as a historic event.

“Never has such a large crowd gathered together to send a message that environmental destruction must end immediately,” Bugeja said. “We are facing a greater siege than that of 1565. We don’t want Malta to become a concrete jungle.”

Other brief speeches were delivered by Front Harsien ODZ spokespeople Monique Agius and Shaun Grech, Marsaskala’s PL deputy mayor Desiree Attard and PN councillor Charlot Cassar.

Marching along Republic Street, the protestors chanted ‘The fields are ours, the coast is ours, the countryside belongs to everyone’ and ‘Malta not for sale’.

Placards and banners were raised, the largest of which criticised both major parties and read ‘PLPN + Speculators, we’ve had enough!’

Other placards read ‘Does Malta belong to us or to speculators?’, ‘MEPA is a farce’, ‘No to the Mosta shooting range, No to development on ODZ’, ‘Zokrija Residents say No’, ‘We did not inherit this land from our fathers, we are borrowing it from our children’, ‘Let’s Save Zonqor’, and ‘Taghna Wkoll’.

One placard depicted Muscat holding a wad of cash, with the words ‘Nothing Else Matters’ superimposed over it.

Notable attendees at the protest included Opposition leader Simon Busuttil, PN deputy leader Mario de Marco, MPs Marthese Portelli, Jason Azzopardi, Ryan Callus and Charlo Bonnici and MEP Therese Comodini Cachia along with Labour backbencher Marlene Farrugia.

Government whip Godfrey Farrugia, who on TimesTalk earlier in the week said he would be taking part in the protest, did not make a presence.

In a statement to MaltaToday, Farrugia said that as whip, he must “respect the diverse opinions within the PL parliamentary group”.

“The government is currently welcoming opinions for alternative sites for the university, both from civil society and other entities and internally.”

He said that he had attended the Front’s official launch last month to show his support for the protection of ODZ land “in a general way”.

He pointed to the PL parliamentary group’s recent declaration to Front Harsien ODZ that “ideally” no construction should take place on ODZ.

However, they hadn’t communicated an official position on the Zonqor Point proposal, except for Marlene Farrugia who told the Front personally that she was against the university and ODZ development.

“The parliamentary group took a common and positive stance with regard to our policy towards the protection of ODZ land,” Farrugia said. “I am acting in accordance with that policy.”