On Thursday, the Environment and Planning Tribunal (EPRT) announced that they were abstaining from their final decision on the Dingli trees appeal, condemning 300-year old carob trees for the chop, as well as giving the green light for works to start on the heavily-criticized road that would be constructed through arable land.
There had been months of hearings in front of the EPRT, where Moviment Graffitti, residents, farmers and tree experts presented their arguments as to how important the trees are for the local eco-system, as well as legal arguments stating that the proposed works were not covered by a full development permit despite the site partially lying on ODZ. Despite the numerous arguments and evidence, the EPRT stated the appellants failed to prove that they have a judicial interest in the case.
How is it possible that the residents of the area and the farmers who work the land to this day not have a direct interest in what will happen to these trees? How does the general public not have an interest when the land is public and these trees have provided shelter, shade, clean air and enjoyment for centuries? How can the destruction of a complex eco-system not be in the interest of us all? And if it were really true that we did not have a judicial interest in this case, the EPRT would have simply not have heard our appeal from the beginning, and not sat through months of hearings to finally abstain.
The EPRT’s decision on Thursday made it clear that the entire planning process is a rigged process that we cannot win, with government entities having each other’s backs to protect big interests rather than taking decisions in an honest and transparent manner.
Il-proċess tal-ippjanar huwa “logħba mixtrija”, jgħid il-Moviment Graffitti
Il-Ħamis, it-Tribunal tal-Ambjent u l-Ippjanar (EPRT) ħabbar li se jastjeni mid-deċiżjoni finali fuq l-appell tas-siġar f’Ħad-Dingli. B’hekk dawn is-siġar tal-ħarrub li għandhom iktar minn 300 sena ġew ikkundannati għall-qtugħ kif ukoll ingħatat il-barka biex jinbeda x-xogħol fuq triq li qalgħet ħafna kritika għax se tinbena fuq art agrikola.
Kien hemm xhur ta’ seduti quddiem l-EPRT, fejn il-Moviment Graffitti, ir-residenti, il-bdiewa u esperti fuq is-siġar ippreżentaw l-argumenti tagħhom dwar l-importanza li għandhom dawn is-siġar għall-ekosistema tal-post, kif ukoll argumenti legali li wrew li x-xogħlijiet proposti ma kellhomx permess sħiħ ta’ żvilupp minkejja li parti mis-sit qiegħda f’ODZ. Minkejja l-argumenti numerużi u l-evidenza kollha, l-EPRT iddikjara li l-appellanti ma rnexxilhomx iġibu provi li għandhom interess ġudizzjarju f’dan il-każ.
Kif jista’ jkun li r-residenti tal-post, u l-bdiewa li għadhom jaħdmu l-art sal-lum m’għandhomx interess dirett f’dak li se jiġri lil dawn is-siġar? Kif jista’ l-poplu inġenerali ma jkollux interess meta l-art hija pubblika u dawn is-siġar ilhom jipprovdu kenn, dell, arja nadifa u tgawdija għal sekli sħaħ? Kif tista’ l-qerda ta’ ekosistema kumplessa ma tkunx ta’ interess għalina lkoll? Kieku kien veru li m’għandniex interess ġudizzjarju f’dan il-każ, l-EPRT kien sempliċiment ma jismax l-appell tagħna mill-ewwel, mhux joqgħod għal xhur sħaħ jisma’ dawn is-seduti biex imbagħad fl-aħħar jastjeni.
Id-deċiżjoni tal-EPRT ta’ nhar il-Ħamis għamlitha ċara li l-proċess kollu tal-ippjanar huwa logħba mixtrija li aħna qatt ma nistgħu nirbħu, b’entitajiet tal-gvern jagħmlu tajjeb għal xulxin biex jipproteġu interessi kbar minflok jieħdu deċiżjonijiet b’mod onest u trasparenti.
