The coalition of 60 entities, mainly environmental and cultural NGOs, known as Spazji Miftuħa and supported by over 16,200 individual signatures, is surprised by the news issued by members of the Mellieħa Local Council that on Sunday 11th October the Government will be signing over land to the hunting federation FKNK.
The decision to do this was heavily contested when the idea originally came out early this year and the issues that concerned this coalition remain unsolved. Both Miżieb and Aħrax are two large woodlands, a rather rare habitat in Malta, and five times the size of Buskett.
The coalition primarily demands that the general public should be allowed to access all the public land within Miżieb and Aħrax all year round. It reminds the Prime Minister that while FKNK is a registered NGO it does not fall anywhere close to many other NGOs whose aim is to work for the common good. FKNK’s sole interest is to have space for a small segment of its members to hunt. They have already done so illegally for a number of years when they closed access without the legal right to do so. FKNK had also erected signs illegally and allowed its members to build structures for their pastime without the necessary permits. These had been reported by BirdLife Malta a few years ago and a fresh report was submitted by the coalition on this matter.
FKNK has never proved to be capable of managing the land and even worse their members who use this area. In fact, these areas have been known to be the meccas of hunting illegalities. These include the discovery of various illegally shot protected birds during night searches along with the filming of an FKNK official shooting a protected bird at Miżieb. The Government is gifting these public lands to an entity that has taken more from our country then it could ever possibly return. This sends out the message that in Malta you can be unaccountable for your actions and even be gifted if this is gainful for the politicians on election day.
The coalition feels that there is a great sense of anger and frustration brewing amongst the majority of the Maltese public that are witnessing the destruction of our natural and cultural spots for the pleasure of a few and the pockets of some others. The Prime Minister must start realising that political gain is by far not a justification to abuse our country’s resources and that if he remains insensitive to these issues he will be remembered as the leader that had no regard to our nature and cultural heritage.
________________________________________________________
Il-koalizzjoni Spazji Miftuħa tikkundanna l-mod kif il-Gvern baqa’ għaddej bħal romblu biex jagħti l-Aħrax u l-Miżieb lill-FKNK
Il-koalizzjoni ta’ 60 organizzazzjoni, ħafna minnhom NGOs ambjentali u kulturali, magħrufa bħala Spazji Miftuħa u li għandha l-appoġġ ta’ aktar minn 16,200 firma individwali, hija sorpriża bl-aħbar li ħarġet mingħand membri tal-Kunsill Lokali Mellieħa li nhar il-Ħadd 11 ta’ Ottubru l-Gvern se jkun qed jgħaddi art lill-federazzjoni tal-kaċċaturi l-FKNK.
Din id-deċiżjoni kienet ikkontestata b’qawwa meta ħarġet l-ewwel darba fil-beraħ il-proposta kmieni din is-sena u l-kwistjonijiet li kienu qed jinkwetaw lil din il-koalizzjoni għadhom ma ġewx solvuti. Kemm il-Miżieb kif ukoll l-Aħrax huma żewġ boskijiet kbar, ħabitat ftit jew wisq rari f’Malta, u ħames darbiet ikbar mill-Buskett.
Primarjament il-koalizzjoni qed titlob li l-pubbliku jibqa’ jgawdi aċċess miftuħ għall-art pubblika kollha fil-Miżieb u l-Aħrax matul is-sena kollha. Infakkru lill-Prim Ministru li waqt li l-FKNK hija rreġistrata bħala NGO assolutament ma tista’ titqabbel bl-ebda mod ma’ ħafna NGOs oħrajn li l-għan tagħhom hu li jaħdmu għall-ġid komuni. L-uniku interess tal-FKNK huwa li jkollha spazju għal sezzjoni żgħira tal-membri tagħha biex jikkaċċjaw. Dawn diġà għamlu dan illegalment għal numru ta’ snin meta għalqu l-aċċess mingħajr ma kellhom id-dritt legali li jagħmlu dan. L-FKNK tellgħet ukoll sinjali illegalment u ppermettiet lill-membri tagħha li jibnu strutturi għall-passatemp tagħhom mingħajr il-permessi neċessarji. Dawn kienu ġew rrappurtati minn BirdLife Malta xi snin ilu u rapport ieħor dwar din il-materja kien sottomess riċentement mill-koalizzjoni.
L-FKNK qatt ma wriet li hija kapaċi tmexxi l-art u agħar minn hekk il-membri tagħha li jużaw din l-art. Fil-fatt, dawn iz-zoni huma magħrufin bħala mekka għall-kaċċa illegali. Dan jinkludi s-sejba ta’ diversi għasafar protetti li spiċċaw fil-mira tal-kaċċa illegali u li nstabu matul tfittxijiet billejl kif ukoll il-każ ta’ uffiċjal tal-FKNK li nqabad fuq il-filmati jispara fuq tajra protetta fil-Miżieb. Il-Gvern qed jagħti dawn l-artijiet pubbliċi b’rigal lil entità li ħadet ferm aktar mill-pajjiż milli qatt tista’ tagħti lura. Dan jibgħat il-messaġġ li f’Malta ma jimpurtax li ma tkunx kontabbli għal għemilek, anzi tista’ saħanistra tiġi ppremjat jekk hekk ikun jaqbel għall-politiċi fl-elezzjoni.
Il-koalizzjoni tħoss li qed jinġema’ sens kbir ta’ rabja u frustrazzjoni fost il-maġġoranza tal-pubbliku Malti li qed jara b’għajnejh il-qerda ta’ kull spazju naturali u kulturali li għandna f’pajjiżna biex igawdu l-ftit u jimlew bwiethom oħrajn. Il-Prim Ministru għandu jibda jirrealizza li l-gwadann politiku bl-ebda mod ma jiġġustifika l-abbuż mir-riżorsi ta’ pajjiżna u li jekk se jibqa’ insensittiv għal kwistjonijiet bħal dawn se jibqa’ mfakkar bħala l-mexxej li ġie jaqa’ u jqum min-natura u l-patrimonju kulturali tagħna.
