Collective amnesia at Dwejra

Abstract

The recent public outpouring of grief over the collapse of the Azure Window, the iconic geological structure at Dwejra, is revealing indeed, especially in terms of the country’s inability to properly prioritise environmental issues. While we are engrossed in the collective tear-shedding exercise, scarcely a thought is spared for the round-the-clock pillaging that takes place just a stone’s throw away from the collapsed window due to the deployment of trammel nets (parit) in what should be the core zone of a Marine Protected Area (MPA). Divers visiting the site have for decades been deploring the fact that the MPA at Dwejra exists only on paper, to the extent that during their dives they are often faced with a wall of nets that effectively rob the sea of any large fish.