Marlene Farrugia gets a hero’s welcome at Żonqor
Simon Busuttil promises to protect environment
Labour MP Marlene Farrugia received a hero’s welcome yesterday morning as she attended an event organised by the Nationalist Party to protest the planned develop- ment of an “American University of Malta” in undeveloped land in the Żonqor area of Marsascala. Dr Farrugia said that her attendance in the event was contingent on PN
Leader Simon Busuttil apologising for the environmental mistakes of past PN governments and promising that the party would protect the environment if returned to power, and on his part, Dr Busuttil pledged that he was ready to accept the “huge challenge” she had put to his party.
The event attracted a sizeable crowd, with many carrying placards reading “Save Żonqor,” “Żonqor is not for sale,” and “iżŻonqor tagħna lkoll,” (Żonqor belongs to all of us, echoing Labour’s general election slogan) as they walked to the site in unison.
Dr Farrugia’s arrival was met with loud cheers and applause, and many flocked to greet or congratulate her as she led the walk together with Dr Busuttil.
The Labour MP highlighted her mixed political background when she explained that she attended the event because of her love for Malta, recalling how her mother had taught her Dom Mintoff’s battle cry “Malta l-ewwel u qabel kollox,” (Malta first and foremost) as a little girl, and also the countless times she sung the PN’s anthem “Sbejħa Patria” (beautiful homeland) when she was actively involved in the party: she had contested the 1998 general election as a PN candidate.
She paraphrased the Labour Party’s own anthem to conclude her address, telling the crowd “qawwu qalbkom, ta’ Malta r-rebħa flaħħar tkun,” (take heart, Malta will claim the final victory).
The MP described Malta’s natural heritage as the Maltese people’s most priceless inheritance, and called on the public to tell the country’s leaders that they wanted Malta to be the best in the Mediterranean. She said that she feared that Malta and Gozo risked losing their identity if people did not speak up against attempts to “sell our country.”
Dr Farrugia also said that she wanted the government to translate its “Malta tagħna lkoll” electoral pledge into practice, and warned the public not to be deceived by promises of a natural park in the area, pointing out that the entire area was already theirs to enjoy.
A commitment to leave ODZ areas untouched
But Dr Farrugia also emphasised that her attendance at the event was not unconditional, stating that when Dr Busuttil invited her to attend, she replied “in my typical blunt fashion” that she would do so only if he provided the guarantees she sought.
She said that Dr Busuttil had to promise that he would be loyal to Malta and its environment, not just in opposition but even when he ended up in government. But the PN leader was also asked to acknowledge and apologise for the damage wrought by the mistakes of past PN governments.
The MP said that Dr Busuttil accepted these conditions, as he himself confirmed when he addressed the crowd.
He said that Dr Farrugia had presented a huge challenge to his party, as she was not simply demanding that it should be different to the present government, but also different to the previous governments which it had led.
“If we made environmental mistakes in the past, we must be the first to recognise them and learn from them so that we do not repeat them,” he said. In contrast, he added, the present government only learned to make
even bigger mistakes instead.
Whilst noting that in the past, undeveloped land was being progressively sacrificed to development, Dr Busuttil said that the time had now come to protect the areas that are left.
He said that in the future, the only development that should take place in areas outside development zones should be development that cannot take place anywhere else.
“This is not just a principle we will preach in opposition, but a commitment we will make when in government,” Dr Busuttil maintained.
The PN Leader explained that the activity was organised so that people could see for themselves what was at stake. He said that the Maltese not only had a right to enjoy the area, but also a duty to preserve it for future generations.
Dr Busuttil also noted that he had other concerns about the project beyond the “obvious” environmental reasons, including the lack of transparency about it. He questioned why Żonqor was picked over many developed and even neglected sites, questioning whose interest the government was defending.
Project’s educational credentials questioned
Dr Busuttil also expressed concern about the project’s educational credentials, and announced that the PN will today seek a parliamentary debate on the controversial legal notice which changes the requirements that institutions need to meet to be recognised as a university.
Similar concerns had been expressed by the first speaker at the event, mathematics Professor Josef Lauri from the University of Malta, who said that while many have rightfully spoken about the environmental aspect, one had to also worry about the potential effect on the reputation of Malta’s educational institutions.
He said that if the American University of Malta developed a reputation as a “fake university,” the reputation of the University of Malta, MCAST and any other educational institution offering degrees in Malta would suffer.
Former University Students’ Council President Thomas Bugeja, a Marsascala resident, questioned the logic of giving up undeveloped land for an American University of Malta that was “neither American, nor a University, nor of Malta,” stating that the planned university was targeting “Middle Easterners paying for a European visa.”
He said that “the south” should not be treated any differently to anywhere else and that its heritage should be protected, adding that if any regeneration was needed in his home town, one could start by once more developing a hotel on the now-disused Jerma Palace Hotel site.
Żabbar native Jane Caruana, an athlete who is studying sustainable tourism, emphasised that each locality had its own character, and that if Marsascala was reimagined as another Sliema through intensive development, there would be no reason for tourists to choose it.
Farmer Wistin Pulis, who cultivates land in the area, dismissed the government’s justification of development in the area by dismissing the land as unproductive and only fit for grain, pointing out that in any case, grain farmers should not be treated as second-class citizens.
He urged the government to listen to farmers over “the people of concrete,” stating that if it found it so easy to simply shift farmers elsewhere, it could do the same with the proposed project.
If we made environmental mistakes in the past, we must be the first to recognise them and learn from them so that we do not repeat them