Environmental justice only restored when fish farms’ illegal operations truly stop - AD

Alternattiva Demokratika has commended the Planning Authority’s decision to revoke the operational permits of a number of fish farms but also said it remained sceptical about enforcement.

“Weak enforcement, particularly on environmental issues, has always been the order of the day, thus leading to a degraded state of our environment. Fish farm operations are no exception and infringements have been going on for a number of years, resulting in the issuing of a number of enforcement orders which in return have been ignored by the same operators. One of the negative impacts experienced has been contamination of our coastal waters with foamy and oily slime, preventing people from swimming. Moreover, this has caused damage to the country’s economy, based on tourism. The dragging of feet by the authorities only ended after a public uproar”, said Simon Galea, Alternattiva Demokratika Spokesperson on Agriculture and Animal Welfare.

“Whilst commending the revocation of permits by the Planning Authority, AD remains skeptical because of the number of related enforcement orders issued and ignored in the recent past. Revoking operation permits is one thing whilst assuring that such illegal operations cease is another thing. Environmental justice is only restored when such illegal operations truly stop. Where operators fail to cooperate then concrete measures should be taken including the towing away of cages and the release of the tuna fish in the illegal cages. This effective action is something which up to now no administration has had the courage to implement”, Mr Galea said.