I realised that I just live at the wrong place. Every morning when I drive my daughter to school, we both suffer from the pollution in the air. Often my daughter asks me to close the window due to the smell and fumes. With this heat, it makes you boil inside. On my way back…
Category: Environment
The aftermath of the referendum
Last weekend saw the first referendum forced onto the Maltese politics requesting the abrogation of the derogation allowing spring hunting of turtle doves and quails. A coalition of NGOs and the Maltese Green Party had collected more than the required 10% signatures required by law to ask for the referendum. This happened to be a…
The launch of my campaign for the local council elections
During a press conference held yesterday in front of the busy church of San Bastjan in Qormi, I explained that I will work towards improving the quality of air if elected. I will address the modernisation of ovens in local bakeries and the raising of its chimneys and I will also lobby to stop unfettered…
MaltaToday’s survey shows 7-point lead for No camp
The No to spring hunting campaign has established a solid seven-point lead over the Yes camp but the outcome of the referendum remains uncertain due to an increase in the number of undecided voters, particularly among Labour voters. The last MaltaToday survey held shortly after Prime Minister Joseph Muscat reiterated his stance in favour of…
Q&A on the Spring Hunting referendum in Malta
What is spring hunting? Spring hunting refers to the three weeks in April when Maltese hunters are licensed to hunt with guns for two types of birds – turtle dove and quail. There are around 10,000 hunters across Malta and Gozo, who are officially allowed to shoot 11,000 turtle doves and 5,000 quail. In reality,…
Nothing changes in Qormi
Since many years that we are living in Qormi, we are suffering from the fumes emitted from chimneys of a few bakeries. I have involved in my quest to combat these pollutions many government entities and I have filed many police reports. Unfortunately I have not managed to stop these bakers and they are continuing…
#jenesuispascharlie in Malta
Lino Farrugia, the CEO of the Maltese Federation for Hunting & Conservation (FKNK) – by the way I think they should rename their federation – has sent following letter to “daddy” parliament secretrary Jose Herrera complaining on the posts on Facebook of two elected local councilors: On 21 Jan 2015, at 21:13, “[email protected]”…
The environment and us
I don’t know if you feel the same as I do, but I am having the subjective perception that our quality of air has seriously degraded during the last few years. Every morning when I drive back from Rabat to Qormi, I can visualize a brown layer of air covering most parts of the island,…
EU Commission plans to ditch circular economy and air pollution rules
The executive will ditch the rules from its 2015 work programme, sources told EurActiv. That is set to be announced on Wednesday (17 December). The Circular Economy package is designed to increase resource efficiency and recycling, and the Clean Air Package imposes rules that set member states’ air quality targets. Sources told EurActiv that Commissioners were…
Does the environment matter anymore?
Episode 1. Living in the old core of a traditional Maltese town has its charm. Quite a few old houses around us have been renovated, reflecting back past beauty. MEPA’s Policy UCO 10 states: “Developments will not be permitted which adversely affect views of or from Urban Conservation Areas, or which detract from the traditional…