Friends of the Earth Malta notes with interest the wide range of proposals for the environment made by all the political parties contesting the 2008 general election. Taken at face value most of the proposals are commendable. Unfortunately, those by the two major parties especially, contain elements that tend to undermine their credibility.

Every party is determined to reform MEPA; indeed the PN manifesto carries the promise by Dr. Gonzi to tackle MEPA reform personally. Yet this promise was not accompanied by even a token gesture of good intent, like stopping the wholesale sanctioning of the Dwejra bars, boat houses and summer residences, or some retreat from the contested (locally and in Brussels)  Rationalisation Scheme. The fact is that the sum total of MEPA actions, often driven by political prompting from on high, has done, and is still doing irreversible harm to the environment. While the AD proposal for a separation of Environment and Planning can make a real change in the quality of MEPA operations, it cannot re-write all of our environmental history.

The AD proposal to hold local referenda where mega projects are proposed makes sense but it must be used carefully if it is not to generate outbreaks of “nimbyism”. We welcome the determination to end spring hunting and suggest that the valuable creation of the Majjistral National Park by the present government be further enhanced by elimination of hunting activities within the Park.

The determination to reform MEPA on the part of the MLP did not deter Dr. Sant from once again proposing a golf course on Ta’ Cenc. But this zeal for reform did not add up to even a lament for Dwejra, whose “obituary” was published on the day the MLP was visiting Gozo.

Only the PN manifesto has a mention of Climate Change issues, even if it is vague on intended action. There are no coherent proposals to address what may well be the first climate change effect to hit us– deterioration of our ground potable water supply—and only vague references to use of second class water from sewage treatment. The real threats to Malta ground water sources from gross over-pumping, from polluting activities sited over the water table, and from road tunnels on “Trans-European highways” are glossed over. Slogans for an “eco-island” vocation for Gozo seem to forget that groundwater supplies there are in crisis. Ground water has to be “polished” by Reverse Osmosis (RO) to cut down on salinity and nitrate content, the result of savage over-pumping on the one hand and indiscriminate use of fertilizer on the other. Incidentally, the fraction (at least 50%) of input water that the RO rejects is not being put to any use. In case of shortfall Cirkewwa RO sends water to Gozo. Â

That is not going to help our carbon footprint. Nor will the actual (by government, for the election) or  promised (by the MLP) halving of the fuel surcharge on electricity and water bills. What is required is something akin to the AD proposal: a surcharge rate that depends on the actual consumption of water and electricity. That would constitute an equitable application of the polluter pays principle.

The PN manifesto does show some concern with our “carbon footprint”. Yet there is no hint if and how we are going to conform to the EU demand for a cut back in our power generation CO2 for the period 2008-2012. The EU allowance of a total of 5% increase over 2005 levels in CO2 emissions by 2020 is quite a tight target and one accompanied by a 10% fraction of (electrical?) energy to be found from renewable energy sources (RES).  Our “commitment” to the latter target shown in the PN manifesto does not square up with the fact that we have already dispatched “Batman and Robin” to Brussels to argue for a reduction in this target. On the other side, the PN manifesto speaks of a “reduction of 20% in CO2 emissions by 2020”, but as no baseline level is given, that figure is meaningless. The promised output (20% of electricity generation– of which base year?) of the 100MW deep water wind farm seems to have been overestimated by a factor of 2. The fact that the present grid may not be able to cope with strong variations in output from the farm has been ignored; and the promise of Dr. Gonzi to connect the farm to the eco-island of Gozo is engineering nonsense.

FoE (Malta) regret to note that none of the parties have addressed the issue of construction and demolition waste. Apparently the idea of land reclamation is being favoured over the more logical one of reduction and reuse of such waste. There is also no mention of future resort to incineration; and no mention by the PN, MLP and AN of urban sprawl, vacant properties and of the new contribution to unsustainable development by the so-called Rationalization of development boundaries and modified local plans.

Issues which should also be seen to include transport, only mentioned by AD; a restrictive policy on new road building- as new roads are simply fuelling increases in car numbers; the provision of more environmentally-friendly lighting and of bicycle lanes; a credible upgrade of public transport which should include liberalisation (mentioned by AD) and a real control on emissions; employment of park rangers and the re-opening of those large tracts of the countryside which have been illegally closed to the public.