Viewpoints

29 Feb 2016

Tourism and the countryside

by Petra Caruana Dingli In an interview with The Sunday Times of Malta last week, the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association president spoke of the success of the tourism industry. He emphasised the need for good public transport, better roads and more training. Apparently 2015 was a record year, with 1.8 million tourists. This is partly attributed to the current problems in...

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29 Jan 2016

No sitting on the dock

by Joanna Spiteri Staines Architect Joanna Spiteri Staines says that the rehabilitation of Dock 1 in Cospicua should serve as a catalyst for holistic urban renewal of Cottonera. Dock 1, a 19th century dock built by William Scamp (1801-1872) in 1848 for the British Navy, is located in the heart of Vittoriosa, Senglea and Cospicua, collectively known as Cottonera. It lies at...

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24 Jan 2016

The times they are a-changing

by Maria Grazia Cassar In September this year, Din l-Art Ħelwa had the honour and pleasure of hosting Professor Simon Molesworth AO QC, his wife Lindy and daughter Anika, for a week in Malta. While here he called on the President of Malta, the Minister of the Environment, gave a  public talk at the Valletta Campus of the University of Malta,...

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24 Jan 2016

The Climate Action Board

by Petra Caruana Dingli Environmental NGOs have lobbied to participate on government boards for donkey’s years. This even caused disputes in Parliament recently, and was one of the triggers for the resignation of Marlene Farrugia from the Labour Party. Farrugia and the Opposition pushed for three NGO representatives on the boards of the new environment and planning authorities, while the government only...

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04 Nov 2015

Debate on the countryside

by Martin Galea Last week I attended the Save the Countryside debate organised by Din L-Art Ħelwa at the Old University building in Valletta. The panel looked set for the mother of all battles – Michael Falzon, Parliamentary Secretary for Planning, and Malta Developers Association president Sandro Chetcuti on one side, and shadow minister for the environment Marthese Portelli, Marlene Farrugia, Labour...

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04 Aug 2015

The MEPA ‘Demerger’

INTERVIEW IN THE MALTA INDEPENDENT – 3rd AUGUST 2015 The Mepa demerger – the separating of the planning and environmental functions – could open the floodgates to even more disastrous planning decisions, according to leading environmentalist PETRA CARUANA DINGLI. The former Mepa Environment Protection Director and Din l-Art Helwa Council member, speaking in her personal capacity, also tells Neil Camilleri that, despite their...

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03 Aug 2015
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Where were you?

by Stanley Farrugia Randon To all those who ask ‘Where were you during the previous Governments’? I invite you to read this sequence of events and judge for yourself. It is true that Din l-Art Ħelwa is normally associated with the restoration of historical buildings or monuments (with environmental issues normally the domain of other non-governmental organisations) but its watch-dog role...

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12 Jul 2015

This Wasted Land of Ours

The construction industry has a poor image. Reports of large-scale corruption involving contractors and governments are commonplace. The manic clatter clatter of jack hammers drives people insane. Clothes, cars, trees, windows, furniture are coated with a fine dust film. We are dominated by monster trucks on the road, slowing traffic down to their pace and subjecting deafened road users to...

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