Nature Trust (Malta) has noted with satisfaction the EU position to issue infringements positions to the Maltese Government with regard to environmental issues. It is clear that despite the nice words towards environmental protection our politicians and authorities still continue to rape our natural heritage.

The issues of Ramla il-Hamra, the Nadur Cemetry, the Mellieha Development, the approval of development in ‘outside development zone’ areas, and the lack of protection for sites such as Wied Moqbol and Ta cenc plateau are but a small fraction of what our natural heritage is passing through today. Thanks to EU membership, today civil society can escalate their concerns for the safeguard of our natural environment to the European Commission.

NTM has also been lobbying with the EU to get the Ta Cenc Plateau area protected besides Hondoq ir-Rummien and other ecological sites in our Islands, all of which facing the threat of unsustainable project applications.

Nature Trust (Malta) further emphasises the fact that it is essential that authorities like the Malta Environment and Planning Authority should be reorganised so that the environmental responsibility of the national authority is given equal weighting to that of planning. To date, the merger of the Planning Authority and the Environment Protection Department remains a disaster where more weighting is being given to development considerations. It is also essential that the MEPA board should reflect the merger status and that members of this board should not be political appointees but be appointed equally from amongst planners and environmentalists. Only then can MEPA be considered to be safeguarding the environment