Office of the Prime Minister

The following text will be sent as email/letter/telefax as appropriate from Proact and the Eurobirders. Those registered with the PROACT team, or who inform me separately, will have their names and country appended to the letter.

To join the PROACT team click on the arctic tern below.

For those wishing just to support the MALTA campaign with their signature send a mail to:

PS. There have been a few queries on the quotes from the EU delegation's report. Click on the link below and on the 'Report' button, then go to 'Chapter 22' (use search box on your browser)for the full details!

For individualist hardliners I have included addresses and numbers below. Cut, paste and send ..... but please send a copy to project-malta@proactnow.org

!NEW! Mail Address
(copy to Proact is included - please move to cc. or bcc. box)

The Prime Minister of Malta
Dr. Eddie Fenech Adami
Office of the Prime Minister
Auberge de Castille
Valetta CMR 02
Malta


Dear Prime Minister Adami,

Your New Year's speech to the Diplomatic Corps in Malta this year contained little substantial in the context of the natural environment on your islands. You were however critical of international failings in this field, one cause of disappointment being the failure of the November Climate Conference in the Hague to reach a successful conclusion.

In your address you did however state that "..with increasing globalisation it becomes less possible to opt out of critical areas of collective responsibility" and "the safeguarding of the global environment for present and future generations is certainly one such area."

Whilst your concern for global environmental issues is praiseworthy, Malta's record on its own islands is very below par. The year 2000 annual report by the EU Delegation on progress to membership states:

"Since the last regular report, Malta has made very little progress in the area of environment.

No legislative progress can be reported concerning nature protection.

Malta is .. a party to the Bern Convention .. but has a reservation and exception under the convention in relation to the hunting season.

With regard to nature protection, most of the Community legislation has to be transposed, in particular the wild birds and the habitat directives."

Thanks to better and swifter means of communication, particularly the internet, the biannual slaughter of migratory birds, as well as the trapping and caging of naturally free species, reaches a wide audience. To most of us this is an affront and a depletion of our joint European natural resources; and not just an internal matter for Malta alone. The ideals of "collective responsibility" and "safeguarding of our environment for future generations" rings rather hollow in this context.

Apart from the obvious long-term environmental consequences and losses for Malta and the rest of Europe, the Government and people of Malta should seriously consider the effect of the negative image projected by the barbaric behaviour of a minority and the economic and representation penalties that will inevitably follow. In the increasingly popular - and lucrative - field of Ecotourism Malta has acquired a bad name; and the inevitable sanctions will be self-imposed. Until a responsible environmental policy is implemented we will also discourage anyone in our domestic or business circle from planning a holiday in Malta. On the other hand we hope that active birdwatchers and environmentalists will travel to Malta during the migration season. Perhaps the presence of foreign environmentalists will have a salutary effect on the illegal hunters; provided the authorities ensure that no danger to life or limb ensues.

Dear Mr. Adami, we appeal to you to use the authority of your office to influence those in executive positions to stamp out practices which have no place in a modern, environmentally aware, society. We will monitor the situation closely and will hope for great and swift improvements in this important 'benchmark' aspect of your government policy.


I remain,

Yours sincerely,

[Name & Address]

ADDRESS/CONTACT

Fon: +356 220634
Fax: +356 224902
Email: cimu@magnet.mt

!NEW! Mail Address
(copy to Proact is included - please move to cc. or bcc. box)