Giving lawbreakers a break

Great start for a new broom 

What on earth is going on? I thought we, the law-abiding public, were going to get a break with a new government. Instead, the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA) is now going to grant a reprieve to all the cowboys who ignored planning rules. I read with grave concern that the enforcement rules to be changed by MEPA will mean that property owners who built illegally will now have “up to three years to get their non-compliant structures approved”. 

Now what kind of message is that relaying? The people who followed the rules must be fuming and rightly so. Mepa is now giving lawbreakers a long ‘breathing’ space to get their illegality sanctioned. Great start for a new government and the new Mepa board, which has introduced an enforcement provision that allows developers 36 months “to try and obtain any necessary sanctioning”.

Of course Din l-Art Helwa is right in calling it a retrograde step and stating, “Rather than solve the ‘endless list’ of illegalities, the move may serve to make the list grow longer.” The previous board had also been criticised for sometimes sanctioning illegality, but one would have expected a new government, which had made such a big deal about being different from the one it replaced, to change such bad practice and get tougher with those who broke the law.

The lawbreakers are antisocial, to say the least, but the supposed caretakers and enforcers, (i.e. the government, voted in by the people in good faith, which has not only allowed this kind of behaviour to take place but is now rewarding the wrongdoers) are the worst offenders.
MEPA, with the government’s blessing, is not only getting softer with lawbreakers but is also extending expired building permits and encouraging developers to increase hotel building heights. Is it strategy that all these decisions are being taken before the Environment section is separated from MEPA?

Has this new wave to get illegality legal have any bearing on the boathouses and caravans saga, by any chance? Well done Mr Justice Anthony Ellul who has just ruled that construction on public land at Little Armier is illegal and caravan occupants have no legal title to the land.
Armier Developments Ltd and a number of caravan occupants requested the court to declare that they were legally entitled to make use of their constructions at Armier in virtue of an agreement entered into with the government in 2003. They also requested a declaration that the eviction order issued against them by the Commissioner of Lands was not enforceable.
Armier Bay is illegally occupied by boathouse owners who built their summer huts over 67,000 square metres of seafront in an outside development zone. And this is not the only bay taken over by squatters. I am not sure when the rot started, but the problem we are facing today is down to the two political parties (PL & PN) granting favours to garner votes. And I am not saying anything new here.

The judge pointed out that in April 2003, the then Minister for Home Affairs (Tonio Borg) had informed Armier Developments Ltd by means of a letter that the government was ready to accept the construction of a number of units in the area subject to a number of conditions.
So instead of righting a wrong, the now European Commissioner was then aiding and abetting Armier Developments Ltd. The judge also said that the Leader of the Opposition (Alfred Sant) had confirmed, in 2007, that the agreement reached between plaintiffs and the Labour Party about the boathouses would be honoured. More aiding and abetting.
Nineteen days before the 2008 general election and just five days after announcing he was taking over responsibility for MEPA, to redress the country's “environmental deficit”, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi had written to the Armier squatters promising to legalise the illegal boathouse community, six months after being re-elected.

“Promising to legalise the illegal”, is that no clearer proof of aiding and abetting the lawbreakers. Was that redressing the country’s environmental deficit? Of course not and our new government is about to follow suit. In March this year, Armier Developments Ltd wrote to its members saying that Joseph Muscat has confirmed an agreement originally reached in 2002 with Labour MP Joe Mizzi. So the rot continues to rot.
What intrigues me is this: despite all the promises made by the political parties to the people who want to continue breaking the law, how does each party know who, in fact, the secret vote went to? They would have got their way anyway whoever finally governs.

Mr Justice Ellul pointed out that the caravans in question were very close to the sea and were built on public land, which was in the public domain. The foreshore, said the court, could not be subjected to private rights. The court added that the letter sent by the government in April 2003 could not be deemed a binding contract for the parties were conducting negotiations.
The letter was explaining what the government was proposing. It was inconceivable, the court said, that that letter could be construed as a binding contract allowing persons who had illegally occupied public land to continue occupying it. Neither was the confirmation issued in 2008 a binding contract between the parties, for no one was entitled to occupy public land without a legal title. Transfers of public land had to be carried out in terms of law.
Yet, both political parties have blithely ignored the rule of law and made up their own rules to suit as they went along. The court also referred to the fact that the caravans had been provided with water and electricity services adding that the fact that Enemalta had provided the caravans with services gave rise to many questions. Indeed, who is going to be held accountable for that gross mismanagement?

Alternattiva Demokratika has welcomed the judgement and noted that in past years it campaigned actively for the demolition of the Armier shantytown. The issue formed part of AD’s electoral manifesto in the last elections. Unfortunately, people are still not prepared to give AD a fighting chance.
Its deputy chairman, Carmel Cacopardo, said that land next to the sea should be accessible to all and not just a select few. Who can disagree with that? He called on the Prime Minister as the minister responsible for the Lands Department, to “call in the demolition people next Monday”.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said he would wait for advice on this morning's ruling before taking any action and pointed out that it could still be appealed.
Come on Prime Minister, just having public consultation meetings will get us nowhere unless action is taken. This is your chance to prove that you are indeed different and let’s hope the appeal judges will not overrule Mr Justice Ellul’s sane judgement, which should set a precedent and give back all the bays taken over illegally back to the public domain.

 Published on Sunday, 30 June 2013

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Snippet found while looking for something else

First of all, I do not trust phone callers I do not know. They could claim to be Barack Obama or Peppi tal hobz (the baker), unless you know the caller, he could in fact be Jack the rip off artist. But I had a few minutes to spare and thought I could have a bit of fun.

I wrote this in Feb 2012, in my Malta Sunday Independent column reproduced here also. It was in the run off to the last general election when we were being inundated with calls and partisan mail. I came across the paragraph above while looking for something completely different, but it made me smile and thought that people who followed my scribblings might also like it.

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Man hit boyfriend of his former partner with a truncheon - timesofmalta.com

Man hit boyfriend of his former partner with a truncheon - timesofmalta.com

I am truly disgusted by this case. The violent man who broke another's nose with a truncheon was conditionally discharged and fined €50 for possession of the weapon. Real deterrent that.

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Traffic policemen escort pregnant woman to hospital... just in time - timesofmalta.com

Traffic policemen escort pregnant woman to hospital... just in time - timesofmalta.com

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Still raking it in

So the Maltese intrepid journo, who likes to think he is Larry what’s his name, (the American with the braces), is speechless and refusing to comment on his recent appointment on the national festivities foundation, a government committee.

How he must be loving all the attention and having his photo splashed all over the place. This is the guy who regularly and right up to just before the last election was posting all kinds of items which were pure PN propaganda to all journalists registered with the Department of Information.

His ‘best’ work was just before the election when as a last, desperate ruse to scare people from voting Labour he turned up with a film crew to cover a case of supposedly police harassment. His “What is happening here?” was lampooned widely on Facebook.

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Waiting to savour the proof of the pudding

 Weirdly, I just could not find anything to get my teeth into this week. It is not that there was not much news, it was finding something that challenged my brain cells in the sense of questioning and trying to find explanations to what is going on politically, and I am only referring to the local scene. 

 

Maybe, it was that my laptop decided to go on strike just at the weekend that gave me the kick I needed to get thinking. I had to revert to an old computer that would not respond to my usual research tools and gave up on the Internet connection very quickly, meaning that my memory was put to work with no help to retrieve information.

So what has been happening? The new Labour government is working hard to prove that it is going to be a government that listens and it has many electoral promises to live up to. Meanwhile, the Nationalist Party (PN) in Opposition is trying to get its act together after its spectacular defeat at the last election and The Times of Malta has concentrated its interviews on the PN’s endeavours. But it did interview the Prime Minister in today's (Sunday) edition.

Public consultation meetings have been and are still taking place at the Auberge de Castille (the Office of the Prime Minister) with every single minister and parliamentary secretary. People have been pouring in with their comments and complaints and the government is indeed listening. We now have to look forward to how many of the proposals, made in response by the relevant ministers and parliamentary secretaries, will come to fruition.

Make no mistake, the government has its work cut out to attend to all the things that need fixing. Ensuring our economy stays stable, judicial reform; energy, the environment and public transport are among the top priorities.

A committee has been working on judicial reform, but ironically the Chief Justice has complained that the judiciary was not consulted. Unfortunately, I missed the public meeting at the palace committee room on Friday, and due to my domestic technological problems am unable to update.

Justice is one of the areas in which the previous government lost much credibility, thanks to one of its own who, like a terrier with a rag between his teeth, would not let go and succeeded in bring his government down. However, the PN cannot blame Franco Debono for the loss of the election.

That was the result of an accumulation of PN credibility gaps. The oil corruption scandal, which is still running its course in the law courts, took its toll as well as the unbelievable arrogance that had made some ministers think they could persistently ignore public criticism on important decisions. One particular bully is apparently still at it, bulldozing his way to stop people having their say.

Then of course we had the bendy buses and other over large buses that continue to cause disruption, not only to traffic on our roads, as we are also losing mature trees (that should be part of our heritage) so essential to our environment (for health and aesthetic reasons) to accommodate the dinosaurs (London mayor Boris Johnson’s name for them not mine).

The new environment minister Leo Brincat has taken a keen interest in saving our trees. Whether he can make an impact on the immediate trees in danger remains to be seen. As discussed at two consultative meetings, the one generic at the OPM and the other dedicated to trees, legislation protecting our trees had been weakened drastically and amending that legislation is at the top of the action list.

Another problem is the fragmentation of responsibilities with Environment still forming part of the Planning and Environment Authority (Mepa) until the separation process is actuated, which I hope we shall hear more of at the public consultation meeting with Michael Farrugia on 24 June. Besides, even the Environment Landscaping Consortium falls under yet another portfolio, Joe Mizzi’s Transport and Infrastructure.

On Friday, we saw former EC commissioner and Nationalist Party minister John Dalli (who looked as though he had gone through a battering but has obviously not given up) with the Prime Minister Joseph Muscat who announced that Dalli’s offer to help with the new government was to be taken up. “I don’t only want advice from someone like Mr. Dalli but I also want his energy, I want decisions,” the Prime Minister told a short press conference.

The sacking of John Dalli from the EC is still controversial and has still to be resolved within the EC. Dalli is seeking redress at the European Court of Justice. Locally, the new police commissioner Peter Paul Zammit announced last week that there was insufficient evidence to proceed against Mr Dalli with a criminal case in relation to the alleged request for a bribe to alter legislation on snus under his EC portfolio.

So a lot of things that shall keep us guessing for a little while longer. The new government will have to convince the public that it meant what it said with “Taghna ilkol” and that the change it was elected on takes place.

Published Sunday, 16 June 2013

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Why trees?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74063UKSmXw

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Six-year Ramla Bay development saga comes to an end

 

http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2013-06-09/news/six-year-ramla-bay-development-saga-comes-to-an-end-1779859462/

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Piano recitals in Budapest amd Malta

Pianist Tricia Dawn Williams has over the years, organised and taken part in several recitals and interdisciplinary projects collaborating with Maltese composers and other contemporary composers worldwide commissioning and premiering their works both in her own country and abroad.

Williams, who has been under the guidance of Pawlu Grech since 1999, specialises in the performance of 20th century and contemporary music. Her repertoire ranges from Béla Bartok to today’s modern composers.  She has performed works by Gjorgy Ligeti, Paul Hindemith, Ahmed Adnan Saygun, Henry Cowell, John Cage, Andrew Rudin, Scott McAllister, Makiko Kinoshita and others.

She has been invited to perform Salt of the Earth, the Sea and of Me at The Béla Bartók Memorial House in Budapest on Friday 14 June where she will be closing the 2013 season. Throughout the past 25 years, the Memorial House has become the worthy home of Bartók's art: his works for piano, chamber music pieces and classic compositions, that may once have been played between these walls during his life, are now regularly interpreted by the most prominent Hungarian artists in the concert hall.

A very recent composition written for Williams, Salt of the Earth, the Sea and of Me by Scott McAllister was inspired by one of the composer’s grandmother’s poems by the same name. The poem was written after the death of her son at the age of 44.

“The sweeping gestures in this work emulate the wind and the sea and how they grow and swirl in continuous motion. The middle of the composition represents sorrow and peace with an ambiguous ostinato pattern.  After acceptance is achieved the work ends with a slow and repetitive wave of final "death" chords”, says Williams.

On Saturday 22 June, 20.00hrs, she will present a programme of 20th century and contemporary works by composers from Hungary, America, France and Malta, at St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity in Valletta.

“The programme opens with Ideograms Book 1 by Pawlu Grech. This work is a research into sound as the basis for musical composition. Starting from the single sound and varying its intensity, timbre and duration, the possibilities afforded by the irreducible nature of sound are progressively unfolded and developed.

“This process crystallizes into an uninterrupted series of seven sound images each of which is made up of multiple sounds standing in complex relations to each other but without ever forming a musical order or thematic unity.

“These sound images are obtained by means of different instrumental techniques, such as exploitation of the registers, various ways of using the three pedals, reverberation, and contrasting dynamics within the same texture.

“The visual nature of the work is mirrored in the score, where the sounds are represented by dots of varying sizes and distances from each other to represent their relative durations. At times, the duration of the sounds is also measured in seconds.

“The name of the work, Ideograms, bears out Pawlu Grech’s intention to elevate the craft of musical composition to the lofty status of a precise and esoteric language that has the ability to capture and communicate a metaphysical reality lying beyond its aural artifacts.

“Four Dirges by Béla Bartók are four short piano pieces that owe their existence to Bartók's discovery of Romanian mourning songs in 1909. Since 1905, Bartók had been collecting folk songs from Eastern Europe, and their exotic scales had soon made their way into the composer's work.

“The Dirges are in some ways reminiscent of the Fourteen Bagatelles for piano, composed in 1908: both are strongly folk-influenced, and both reflect the same austere, spare aesthetic. The principal difference between the two works is harmonic, as the Bagatelles are decidedly experimental in this respect, at times bordering on atonality; the Dirges, on the other hand, are harmonically quite simple, with melodies often accompanied by open fifths or basic triadic chords.

“Bartók's melodies and harmonies are constructed largely from lydian and phyrgian modes, octatonic scales (scales consisting of alternating half and whole steps) as well as the usual Hungarian pentatonic (five note) scales. Melodies are simple and unadorned, often presented in bare, parallel octaves.

“The first of the four Dirges, an adagio, reflects Bartók's interest in Romanian octatonicism, with melodies comprised of octatonic pentachords (the use of octatonic scales would also become an important feature of Igor Stravinsky's music: Stravinsky composed a number of works in the first two decades of the century based on Russian folk music idioms).

“The second Dirge is perhaps the most harmonically adventurous of the four, as it progresses from relatively simple pentatonic structures to octatonic fragments and arpeggiated ninth chords. The third Dirge is similar in texture and character to the first, while the fourth employs more octatonicism and modal structures.

“Fantasy II from Four Piano Pieces by  Béla Bartók is an early work. In some of his early compositions, Bartók divulged the influence of a composer he long admired, Franz Liszt. These four early piano pieces are such compositions. The third of the four pieces is Fantasie II, which, showing hints of Liszt, divulges Rachmaninov and Scriabin influences, as well. This four-minute piece opens darkly, but gradually takes on warmth in its nocturnal glow, and ultimately achieves a bit more sophistication in expressive manner.

“Suite Caféinée by Pierre-Adrien Charpy  will bring this exciting programme to an end. The "suite caféinée" provokes tough effects on the pianist who is playing it, just like coffee does! Titles of the different parts are senseless but funny in the French language. This work has been commissioned by Jean-François Faucheux. Originally thought as different studies for a piano method, it finally became a virtuoso concert piece. It will be used in 2014 as stage music for a theatrical adaptation of the novel "Nocento, pianist" by the Italian author Allessandro Baricco in Le Mans (France).” said Williams.

This recital is supported by the Malta Arts Fund.  Entrance is free and tickets need not be booked. For further updates please log onto www.facebook.com/TriciaDawnWilliamsPianist.

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A Building That Plays Music When It Rains (5 Photos) | Crazy pics

A Building That Plays Music When It Rains (5 Photos) | Crazy pics

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Concrete for parking, or trees for a healthy environment

Wednesday evening saw a good number of people airing their views on what needs to be done to protect Malta's trees. The event was organised by the new minister for the environment and climate change, Leo Brincat.

This is not a complete picture of what was said, but a few highlights. Among the comments about over pruning of trees a member of Birdlife explained that the pruning at the wrong time was also a problem, besides the harm to the trees it was also depriving birds of their habitual nesting places.

Chain saws should be licensed and an emergency number should be available for abuse to be nipped in the bud. Education was a constant theme including the lack of control of diseases attacking our trees and the type of trees being planted. A holistic plan was recommended.

A farmer pointed out that the country is losing its fruit trees like the fig and others. The failure of the Planning and Environment Authority (MEPA) to protect Baroque gardens and trees in general to make way for development was deplored and it was good that work is in hand to separate the Environment from the Planning Authority.

Wardens and a managment plan for Buskett was called for and quality of care over quantity on tree planting was raised, also in view of water sustainability.

There was criticism of some local councils who preferred car parking spaces to trees, a view unfortunately shared by the new Parliamentary Secretary for culture Jose Herrera.

People and that includes, local councils and other entities, who destroy or damage trees should be prosecuted and heavy fines imposed was suggested.

People who could not make the consultative meeting are urged to send their comments to yoursay.environment@gov.mt

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A blight on the bastions’ line

As I sit at my little workstation, my view is of Valletta from its tip (east), including the renovated bridge, spreading all the way to Floriana and beyond. In fact, as soon as I walk down the hall to the kitchen for my first cup of coffee, that is what greets me. It is why I chose my flat. Development might be eating away at what I can see of the harbour and there is now a row of tanks marring my previous uncluttered view, but Valletta is still gloriously in sight.

If you are wondering what brought on this preamble, I shall explain. I was born and grew up in Valletta and my mother still lived there until she passed away last year. I can see those flats and below them to my right the House of Four Winds. I could not see the old building before, but I can now see the new construction, which is rather like a carbuncle (the boil not the gemstone). My frustration was not brought about by the architecture, I am sure it will turn out to be a fine building, but by the insensitive location. It is just in the wrong place.

So the bastions were cleaned up of all the caper plants, which the authorities saw as marring them, yet, they allow a new building to blight the superb bastions’ line. The argument that the previous building was more intrusive to the bastions’ line does not hold water. If one is to demolish and start afresh one does not repeat the same mistake, as happened with the Excelsior Hotel. This is what is so sad, we never learn from our mistakes.

Previous governments have a lot to answer for with regard to our heritage. Let us hope that the new administration will show more respect towards our patrimony. Recently, in Mdina that beautiful old orange grove in the ditch was spirited away to make way for a lawn! Because it was deemed that the bastions there are better for it. But I digress, why oh why did the previous government give such a sensitive building away to the Bank of Valletta? Presumably with no restrictions. I understand there was some kind of barter between the two.

That site adjoining the lower part of Hastings Gardens had been abused in the past. Part of the garden, behind the monument, where I used to act out plays with other neighbourhood children got stolen from the public area and became part of the House of Four Winds.

Besides, a beautiful, aged carob tree I used to climb was chopped out of existence to accommodate the extension. This took place at some point after the Maltese government took the House of Four Winds over from the British government. I was living abroad when this happened and discovered the harm done much later. Now that the House of Four Winds has been completely demolished, that part should have been given back to the public garden. Although, sadly, the carob tree can never be replaced.

Sensitivity to our heritage suggests that if the original house was to be demolished it was the ideal opportunity to keep that part of the bastions clear. Instead, we now have a new building that although not actually on the bastions, is far too close and breaks that magnificent bastions line. It is the only building that does that. All the buildings behind the bastions from the tip opposite Tigné right up to the Central Bank site, at the top end of Hastings are set well back. In fact, the Central Bank was purposely built below the bastions and hence cannot be seen.

I have no particular beef with the BOV except in this instance, since it is the main partner of Wirt Artna (Our Heritage), I would have thought it would have realised that if that building was to be demolished, it should not have been replaced.

“The crucial part of this planning permission is that through this permit, the existing eyesore which extends over the bastions will finally be removed with the added gain that the bastion area will also be restored to its original state. The approved development, which includes the redevelopment of a sensitive two storey office building to accommodate the Bank of Valletta Chairman’s Office, will be set back from the bastions so as not to be seen from street level, while no services are permitted at roof level.

“Additionally as part of the Planning Gain for this development, the Mepa Board obliged the bank to restore the base of Ponsomby's Column and Lord Spencer’s grave which are in the vicinity of the site. The bank on its own initiative has indicated that it was also considering re-paving the three small piazzas adjacent to the site.” Mepa responded to my email on the issue.

Well, I have a few supplementary statements in response to: “The approved development, which includes the redevelopment of a sensitive two storey office building to accommodate the Bank of Valletta Chairman’s Office, will be set back from the bastions so as not to be seen from street level, while no services are permitted at roof level.”
When Mepa refers to, “will be set back from the bastions so as not to be seen at street level”, it is not right in its claim. I presume they mean the street below the bastions, you know, the one that is always full of horse shit, because obviously one cannot see anything from that perspective.

But, if you look at Valletta at street level from across the harbour all along from Ta’ Xbiex to the Strand and Tigné Point, the new building is very visible. My argument is that it is not set back enough, as I have explained earlier. Furthermore, a BOV representative told me that it was the bank that specified that no services were to be placed on the roof, not Mepa.

So what is the Maltese public getting in return for the bartering away of a prime sensitive site? “The Mepa Board obliged the bank to restore the base of Ponsomby’s Column and Lord Spencer's grave, which are in the vicinity of the site for this development, as part of the Additionally Planning Gain.” Really, so that is supposed to balance out the flawed splendour of the bastions. Oh, and “The bank on its own initiative has indicated that it was also considering re-paving the three small piazzas adjacent to the site.” Considering mind, no commitment! We have lost out fellow citizens and the bank has won.

Published in the Malta Independent on Sunday June 2, 2013, where one can view the relevant photos
 

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