GozoNews.Com

I heard recently that application number 5277/96 has been resuscitated, and the developer has submitted an EIA to MEPA. I am writing to voice my strong objection to this development.

This application now seeks to double the size of the existing hotel, build another hotel together with 49 bungalows and 67 villas, all in an area outside the development zone.

According to MEPA, there is more than enough space in the Development Zone to cater for projected buildings. Why then should more buildings be allowed in ODZ areas, especially when some of the projected buildings are close to Mgarr ix-Xini and far away from the existing hotel? This is not just any ODZ area we are talking about but Ta’ Cenc, one of the last few remaining unspoilt open areas in all of Malta and Gozo. Its very name evokes a sense of open space, a feeling of raw nature at its best.

What additional value is this project going to provide for Gozo and Gozitans in general? If, God forbid, this application is accepted, it will only continue to destroy the little remaining natural landscape we have left. However, instead of a slow destruction, we will be dealing a massive blow that will either kill the patient, or leave him crippled for life.

If MEPA goes mad and accepts this application, what will stop the further rape of our country by unscrupulous developers? What will be left for our children to enjoy? My only hope is that MEPA, in which I still have strong faith, will send the application back to the so-called developer and put an end to this lunacy.

I am a member of the Ramblers’ Association and am sending this letter not because I’ve been told to do so but because over the past few years, since I have taken up walking in the countryside (both with groups or on my own), I have came to vastly appreciate the difference of walking in the so called “developed” areas and the open areas such as Ta’ Cenc. Does anyone, given the choice, want to live in places such as Qormi, Hamrun, Fgura, Birkirkara, the inner part of Sliema, and so on? However, we, and a number of our acquaintances do live in such places because to buy a house with even the minimum of sea or country views, one would have to pay through the nose to do so. Why, because in the end, everyone appreciates the natural beauty of our countryside – so let’s make a united effort to save for both ourselves and our children’s future the little we still have in the way of natural beauty!