Moviment Graffitti welcomes Minister for Tourism Ian Borg’s expressed intentions to curb the commercial activities on Comino and the Blue Lagoon. Over the past years we have demanded limits to the activities of tourist boats which offload hundreds of tourists at a time onto the island nature reserve several times a day. Left unchecked, this has led to the degradation of the Blue Lagoon, and of Comino in general. We hope that the proposed measures will primarily target these tourist activities and not result in a cap which prioritises large tourist operators over services used by residents of the Maltese Islands to enjoy Comino. 

We are also pleased to hear that Minister Borg is planning to better organise the kiosks operating on Comino. We have long insisted that the number of kiosks allowed to operate is unsustainable and should be reduced. We add with urgency that kiosks should not be allowed to spill over to other parts of the island; unfortunately, we are already seeing the presence of kiosks in Santa Maria Bay, to the detriment of the government’s own habitat restoration attempts in the bay and wetland. We look forward to being invited for the consultation meeting on this matter. 

We reiterate previous calls to have Comino’s carrying capacity study published. This study, commissioned by ERA years ago, has been kept under wraps. The public has a right to access this information and assess the authorities’ actions, or lack thereof, to preserve and restore Comino as a Natura 2000 site.   

We have also not forgotten the looming threat to Comino’s integrity with Hili’s proposed hotel and villas for the bays of San Niklaw and Santa Marija, which activities are certainly not in line with Comino’s protection status or with our right to peaceful enjoyment of public land. 

We congratulate all those who have stood with us to pressure authorities into addressing the causes of degradation of our shared cultural and natural heritage. We hope Ian Borg’s words are followed up with tangible actions for the common good and do not become another unrealised promise as with the planning appeals reform. 

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Kemmuna se tkun ta’ kulħadd? 

Il-Moviment Graffitti jilqa’ l-intenzjonijiet tal-Ministru għat-Turiżmu Ian Borg biex jitrażżanu l-attivitajiet kummerċjali fuq Kemmuna u l-Blue Lagoon. Matul is-snin li għaddew aħna tlabna limiti għall-attivitajiet tad-dgħajjes kbar tat-turisti li minnhom jinżlu mijiet ta’ turisti fuq ir-riserva naturali tal-gżira bosta drabi kuljum. Mingħajr kontrolli, dan wassal għad-degradazzjoni tal-Blue Lagoon u ta’ Kemmuna b’mod ġenerali. Nittamaw li primarjament, il-miżuri proposti huma mmirati għal dawn l-attivitajiet turistiċi u ma jirriżultawx f’limitu massimu li jagħti prijorità lill-operaturi turistiċi kbar flok lis-servizzi użati mir-residenti tal-Gżejjer Maltin biex igawdu Kemmuna. 

Ninsabu sodisfatti li l-Ministru Borg qed jippjana li jtejjeb l-organizzazzjoni tal-gabbani li joperaw f’Kemmuna. Ilna ninsistu li n-numru ta’ gabbani li qed jitħallew joperaw mhuwiex sostenibbli u għandu jonqos. Inżidu b’urġenza li l-gabbani m’għandhomx jitħallew jinfirxu f’partijiet oħra tal-gżira; sfortunatament, diġà qed naraw il-preżenza ta’ kjosks fil-Bajja ta’ Santa Marija, għad-detriment tar-restawr tal-ħabitat li l-Gvern stess qed jipprova jagħmel fil-bajja u l-art mistagħdra. Nistennew bil-ħerqa l-istedina għal-laqgħa ta’ konsultazzjoni dwar din il-kwistjoni. 

Nerġgħu nsostnu s-sejħiet preċedenti tagħna biex jiġi ppubblikat l-istudju dwar l-ammont ta’ persuni li tiflaħ għalihom Kemmuna. Dan l-istudju, ikkummissjonat mill-ERA snin ilu, inżamm moħbi. Il-pubbliku għandu dritt li jaċċessa din l-informazzjoni  u jevalwa l-azzjonijiet tal-awtoritajiet, jew in-nuqqas tagħhom, sabiex Kemmuna tiġi ppreservata u restawrata bħala sit Natura 2000.  

Ma ninsewx ukoll it-theddida imminenti li qed taffaċċja Kemmuna minħabba l-lukanda u l-vilel proposti mill-kumpanija Hili fil-bajjiet ta’ San Niklaw u Santa Marija, liema attivitajiet żgur mhumiex konformi mal-istatus ta’ protezzjoni ta’ Kemmuna jew mad-dritt li għandna biex ingawdu din l-art pubblika bil-kwiet. 

Nifirħu lil dawk kollha li ssieħbu magħna u għamlu pressjoni fuq l-awtoritajiet biex dawn jindirizzaw il-kawżi tad-degradazzjoni tal-wirt kulturali u naturali tagħna. Nittamaw li l-kliem ta’ Ian Borg jiġi segwit b’azzjonijiet tanġibbli għall-ġid komuni u li mhumiex biss wegħda oħra li ma ssirx realtà, bħalma ġara fir-riforma tal-appelli tal-ippjanar.