Indymedia Malta

There is a growing rift in Maltese society between those who are accepted by the law as normal citizens and who must be punished accordingly if they break it, and those who are considered of a privileged nature and thus must be dealt differently from the others. The former is usually the simple and blue collar criminal and gets caught easily when the police forces lunch their search operations. But the latter is a phenomenon which the media have always ignored due to its interest to hide the mischievous truths of its patrons. Yes, mainstream journalists have most of them failed to research properly white-collar crimes for the simple reason not to defame and not to enter in any 'libellous' situations.

Il-kollettiva li tiproduċi l-gazzetta r-Realtà qiegħda torganizza seminar fuq is-suġġett ta’ l-urbanizzazzjoni u l-effetti tagħha fuq l-ambjent naturali. Dan is-seminar ser jilqa' fih numru ta’ NGOs u akkedemiċi li ser jagħtu l-kummenti tagħhom fuq is-sitwazzjoni lokali ta’ l-urbanizzazzjoni. Id-dibattitu ser jibda b'Dr Simon Mercieca (head of Mediterranean Institute, University of Malta) li hu skular mill-Università. Dr Mercieca huwa demografiku storiku u b'hekk ser jagħti sinopsi qasira ta’ l-urbanizzazzjoni u aspetti demografiċi fl-istorja ta’ Malta. Astrid Vella li hi l-mexxejja ta’ l-organizzazzjoni Federazzjoni Ambjent Aħjar, hija kelliema oħra li ser titkellem fuq aspetti riċenti ta’ l-urbanizzazzjoni u l-irwol ta’ l-NGOs u l-ambjent f'Malta. Kelliem ieħor huwa Matthew Giordimana li huwa membru fin-Nature Trust Youths. Matthew ser jitkellem fuq ir-relazzjoni taż-żgħażagħ ma’ NGOs u l-ambjent naturali.

The Nature Trust (Malta) Council calls on the Prime Minister, as the responsible authority on the Environment and Tourism, to intervene in the Dwejra Heritage Park issue and help solve the various issues which are now long overdue.

Nature Trust (Malta) had been awarded a LIFE grant by the European Union way back in 2004. This project encountered problems from the very start, with Mepa delaying the approval of the Action Plan by over one and a half years. The project eventually came to an end in March 2007.

 Since then all uncompleted tasks indicated in the Action plan have come to a halt and NTM now feels that all the investment poured in to conserve the site is now going up in smoke and the park is falling into degradation.

It is now proven that what the Prime Minister and the mass media had claimed that MEPA will now reform itself, were crystal clear lies. Nowadays MEPA is operating the same way it has done ever since its foundation by giving out development permits to any contractor even though such development falls inside the ODZ scheme. Developments in open spaces and natural environments are increasing and this proves why MEPA is doing exactly the contrary of the people's expectations: to enforce its regulations and protect the natural environment. All this has been forgotten after elections have faded away.

In recent days three dead bodies of African men have been recovered from the sea by the Armed Forces of Malta. It has, until now refrained from launching proper investigations regarding this situation. According to Fortress Europe the situation is very alarming:

Moviment Graffitti has today staged a protest in front of the opening ceremony of the new parliament. Moviment Graffitti has claimed in a press-statement that Malta's two party system is disrupting any real democratic dialogue in the country. An example which is usually brought to prove this point is that this system is also preventing Alternattiva Demokratika from being represented in parliament due to district counting.

Policy brutality was a negative syndrome which existed since the birth of Maltese statehood. Its perpetual activity through history has given a bleak result of apathy to the situation. The lack of interest from the media on the Nicholas Azzopardi case is a fine example of this fact. The police stated that Nicholas Azzopardi had escaped from police custody and than later fell in a ditch, on the 8^th April. Just before he died in hospital, Nicholas Azzopardi claimed that he was beaten by the police and then thrown in the ditch to Magistrate Tonio Vella who interrogated the victim, alone. Investigations are currently under way but no new disciplinary measures will be enforced to control this ongoing problem of abuse of power.

Two ex-Moviment Graffitti activists have been sentenced a 100 Euro payement for damages and a six month conditional discharge, by court, on a protest they had done at least three years ago. The protest invovled an action against the unconstitutional use of Maltese harbours by the American Navy. The activists tried to write messages with red paint on the USS Obanon when SAG members stopped the activists. During the scuffle, the paint had spread all over their uniforms.

A new issue of Ir-Realta' has just been issued and it offers a varied selection of interviews and analytical articles. Just after a month from the last event, called A[VOID], the Collective has produced another free newspaper which can be collected from University. For more information go to www.realtamadwarek.org or send an email to realta[stopspam]@inventati.org – (remove [stopspam]

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi during a visit to MEPA has recently claimed that it must put more effort to enforce its regulations and make the institution more transparent. Nevertheless, MEPA seems to be the same old institution and developers are yet not stopped from breaking the law.