Sven Giegold tkellem dwar il-preokkupazzjoni tagħna lkoll

Il-Membru Parlamentari Ewropew Sven Giegold, mill-Grupp tal-Ħodor, Ġermaniż,  ġie Malta ippreokkupat dwar is-saltna tad-dritt f’Malta. B’dak li sema’ kemm dam hawn spiċċa ippreokkupa ruħu ferm iktar.

Fuq il-blog tiegħu stess, fil-fatt jgħid hekk: 

“The delegation of the Parliament came seriously concerned over the rule of law in Malta and left even more worried. We learnt a great deal, gathered important evidence and were promised even more.

The police and the attorney general have demonstrated an unwillingness to investigate and failure to prosecute corruption and money laundering.”

X’qalulhom mela, biex tawhom din l-impressjoni ħażina.

Sven Giegold ikompli jgħid :

“Publically available information and even reports by Malta’s anti-money laundering body FIAU have repeatedly not triggered investigations. Individuals and financial institutions involved were not searched, evidence not gathered. This protected high government officials such as prime minister’s chief of staff Keith Schembri and minister Konrad Mizzi from prosecution as well as financial instiutions such as Pilatus Bank and Nexia BT.”

Bħalna lkoll Sven Giegold ifforma l-opinjoni li r-rapporti tal-FIAU ġew injorati. Jidher li wasal għall- konklużjoni li ma saret l-ebda investigazzjoni dwar il-kontenut ta’ dawn ir-rapporti. Għax kieku saret investigazzjoni u din waslet għall-konklużjoni li ma kien hemm xejn minn dak li jintqal fir-rapporti, nimmaġina li l-Kummissarju tal-Pulizija kien jgħidlhom lid-delegazzjoni tal-Parlament Ewropew li “investiga u ma sab xejn”.

Imma ma jidhirx li intqal dan il-kliem għax il-konklużjoni ta’ Giegold, liema konklużjoni taqbel magħha Ana Gomes is-Soċjalista Portugiża li qed tmexxi d-delegazzjoni, hi ċara daqs il-kristall :

“Publically available information and even reports by Malta’s anti-money laundering body FIAU have repeatedly not triggered investigations.”

Din hi l-preokkupazzjoni tagħna lkoll: li l-istituzzjonijiet qegħdin hemm għalxejn.

Dal-għodu, tifkira ta’ Raymond Caruana

Fl-anniversarju tal-qtil ta’ Raymond Caruana fil-5 ta’ Diċembru tal-1986, dal-għodu għan-nom ta’ Alternattiva Demokratika poġġejt fjuri fuq il-qabar ta’ Raymond Caruana fiċ-ċimiterju tal-Gudja.

Huwa importanti li niftakru f’dawn l-anniversarji biex inżommu f’moħħna li d-djalogu u d-diskussjoni għandhom ikunu u jibqgħu l-pern tal-proċess demokratiku. Il-vjolenza u azzjonijiet li jwasslu għaliha qatt ma jistgħu jitħallew jgħollu rashom.

New Petrol Stations: immediate moratorium needed

For a short period of time, the number of new petrol stations in Malta was on the decline but recently this trend has reversed, undoubtedly as a result of the Planning Authority 2015 Fuel Service Station Policy.

New petrol stations are mushrooming all over the place, and not only is it easier to obtain a development permit to construct a petrol station but you get the added “concession” to ruin up to 3,000 square metres of surrounding land.

Those proposing the development of new petrol stations claim to be doing us a favour. They argue that the increasing number of cars on the road necessitates more and more petrol stations. The number of petrol stations in the Maltese islands currently stands at around 80 and new ones are mushrooming, undoubtedly fuelled by the 3,000 square metres permissible footprint in the 2015 planning policy.

It is submitted that the policy on the development of fuel stations should complement the policy on the phasing out of internal combustion engines and an immediate moratorium on the development of new petrol stations is essential.

During the 2017 General Election campaign, Alternattiva Demokratika proposed the phasing out of vehicles running on internal combustion engines in Malta over a 20-year period. This time-frame was deemed sufficient to develop an infrastructure for electric-driven cars. It was also deemed to be a reasonable time-frame to permit those who possessed vehicles running on internal combustion engines to adjust to a new reality without petrol or diesel.

This position was also taken up by the Labour government in Malta after the June election. However the details have not yet been determined.

Various other countries have decided on, or are considering, eliminating internal combustion engine driven vehicles from their roads, including Norway (by 2025), the Netherlands (by 2025), Germany (by 2030), France (by 2040), the United Kingdom (by 2040), India (by 2040) and China (by 2040). Others will soon inevitably follow.

In addition, car manufacturers are considering shifting to a manufacturing mode that will only produce hybrid or fully electric cars. Volvo will proceed on such a path by 2019 and no doubt others will follow fast on Volvo’s heels.

Within this context, does it make any sense to continue issuing development permits for more petrol stations?

We need an in-depth examination of transport related policies. It is clear to everyone  that our roads are bursting at the seams and that the further development of our road infrastructure is opening up our roads to more cars, as a consequence adding to our pollution problems and simultaneously making our accessibility worse.

An overhaul of Malta’s transport policies should seek to promote sustainable transport policies thereby reducing the number of cars on our roads.

Yesterday, I addressed a press conference on the site of the proposed extension to the road network at Attard. This project, when implemented, will take up valuable irrigated agricultural land. This is one more instance which will increase the number of cars on our roads, gobble up agricultural land and ruin the life of full time farmers.

Transport policy on these islands seems to be multi-directional, sending mixed signals in all directions. Some coherence is required. Establishing a moratorium on the construction of new petrol stations and establishing a date by which internal combustion engine driven vehicles are phased out from our roads would be a good first step. This should then be followed by ending the crazy spree of the development of new roads.

It is a process which will lead us to reclaim our roads for our own use, but then it will take some time.

published in The Malta Independent on Sunday : 3 December 2017