Skewed performance of the Church environment and heritage commissions?

The acronym ‘nimby’ (not in my back yard) epitomises the modus operandi of the Maltese Catholic Church’s Environment Commission, which protested against the proposed central link road in view of its green credentials. Yet this Maltese Catholic Church Commission gave the green light to the cutting down or removal of four to five mature trees at the Ignatius Street entrance to the Carmelite Church to clear the way for a passageway for a lift.

This lift, however, can be sited a few metres away in the Carmelite’s partly rented private parking area on the same street. Incidentally, it makes one wonder whether this is yet another case of land that was donated for a specific purpose but was used for another, as was the case with the Cilia Supermarket, which was planned for Main Street, Balluta and sited on the Carmelite Church ex vocational home garden overlooking Exiles Bay. It now seems likely that this will not materialise.

Likewise, I would think that the other relevant Church commission – tasked with architectural heritage – gave the green light for repainting the interior of St Julian’s parish church differently to what it was when Saint Pope John Paul II visited this temple: a project that surely cost thousands and that regular church-goers could see was not essential – if for no other reason than the fact that other costly projects were being undertaken at the same time.

I think that the person responsible takes the biscuit for his ‘option for the poor’ modus operandi here, and his superior for turning a blind eye.