The golf curse spreads

Abstract

Hardly had the dust settled on the gargantuan Xaghra 1-Hamra golf course proposal (equivalent to the whole village of Ghaxaq) that the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) had the cheek to ask Government to consider the development of a third golf course in the White Rocks/Pembroke area, which has already been spared a golf course in the past by MEPA (which had rejected the application outright). The choice of the Pembroke area, strategically close to the interests of some of the MHRA's head honchos, is hardly surprising. Backtracking from all the progress made in recent years in planning legislation and procedures, the MHRA welcomed Government's modus operandi of using the MTA's fast track to facilitate the development of golf courses. Fast track or ad hoc clientelism? By also soliciting the Ta' Gene golf course in its statement, the MHRA is effectively setting its eyes on roughly 1% of our land resources, or a staggering 250 ha.