Government position on environmental issue ‘one of convenience’ – PD

Partit Demokratiku said today that Minister Jose Herrera's choice of words, in relation to the donation of €300,000 to Majjistral Park, prove that there seems to be no intention to bring stakeholders around a table and revise hunting hours.

It is evident that political direction on environmental issues from the government is one of convenience rather than conviction, PD said in a statement. When Partit Demokratiku submitted the Private Members' Bill to keep hunting hours restricted until 10am in Majjistral Park, the Nationalist Party hijacked the bill to call for dialogue and yet failed to show any commitment to call a spade a spade in favour of the objectives of the park.

Now, all that can be heard from the Nationalist Party is silence on this issue, and no dialogue. It has become abundantly clear that just as NGOs stated, that the amendment was a way to escape controversy without actually sticking up for the environment.

Partit Demokratiku condemns the authorities responsible for these unfair changes to the hours, which will hurt hunters in the long run as well as they draw further ire from the general public. Safety standards on behalf of the public who visit the park have not yet been implemented either, nor a system of registration for those who hunt in Majjistral as should be part of procedure. The Minister therefore must bear political responsibility in the case of any accidents.

The Park Federation had noted that the hours had already once been extended in the past, from 9am to 10am, and this further change is a transparent and cynical exercise by both the Labour Party and the Nationalist Party, who are in violation of the bill to bring stakeholders around a table to discuss the issue. This violated pledge is one of many by the Labour Party, which had promised to erect an Environmental Court in its last manifesto, promised to protect ODZ and ultimately promised a change of direction towards a sustainable economy, as it had already promised in 2013.

Partit Demokratiku condemns the pretence of environmentalism by both major parties, who only follow suite once the ball has already gotten rolling, such as on the PD MPs raising the Fuel Station policy revision in the Permanent Committee on Environment and Development and the herbicide saga which PD raised in Parliament, thus convincing the government to change track to vote against the EU.

 

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