Copyright 2009 Leo Brincat. All rights reserved.
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It might sound reassuring for Mario de Marco to declare that our environment is too small to afford to suffer any more mistakes...
Regardless of all the reassuring statements on renewable energy issued by the minister concerned as well as his communications officers...
In a promptly issued Ministry reaction to a statement issued by PL Main Climate Change Spokesperson Leo Brincat, Minister George Pullicino...
Labour’s main spokesperson for Sustainable Development and Climate Change Leo Brincat has asked what had happened of the report on climate change...
Nothing has been heard about a report on climate change which had to be concluded by March, the Labour Party’s spokesman for the environment said...
The Church's Environment Commission used the strongest of words to slam Government's proposed development of a hotel, apartments and a yacht marina at Hondoq ir-Rummien...
I might not be an aficionado of jazz music, but I could not but feel concerned and dismayed that the jazz musicians performing...
The Labour Party asked today why the government has not published the Alternative Energy Action Plan, sent to the EU on July 6...
I would like to kindly refer to Anne Zammit's interesting article (July 4) on the environment, entitled 'From structural to spatial planning'...
Leo Brincat, the Opposition’s main spokesperson for the Environment, insisted that without strong political commitment...
Many people I know were somewhat perplexed that Innsbruck was recently chosen to discuss such burning and topical Mediterranean issues as the protection of the marine environment...
All indications seem to suggest that even though Parliament will be going into recess either today or tomorrow, we are all in for a long hot summer...
Shadow environment minister Leo Brincat has claimed concern on the Delimara power station extension is now serious after the integrated...
Il-Kelliem Ewlieni Laburista għall-Ambjent, Żvilupp Sostenibbli u Tibdil fil-Klima Leo Brincat, iddeskriva s-sħubija ta’ Malta...
Opposition spokesman on the environment Leo Brincat yesterday urged the police to determine the extent of an alleged intermediary role of a PN-led Gozitan...
George Pullicino ffissat fuq min huma dawk in-nies tekniċi li qegħdin jagħtu pariri lill-Partit Laburista dwar l-ambjent, it-tibdil...
With China set to overtake the US in energy consumption within four years’ time and India and China likely to consume a little less than a third of our global energy within the next two decades...
Issa li il-ligi dwar il-MEPA ghaddiet mill-istadji kollha il-mistoqsijja fuq fomm kullhadd hija – kemm verament sejra tinbidel...
The PL’s positive contribution to the healthy Mepa debate that unfolded in the House over various sittings in second reading and for some 12 separate committee stage meetings went to prove that when I wrote in...
The last week was indeed a ‘Green’ week by any stretch of the imagination. Tuesday we discussed the MEPA estimates at some length...
When addressing a Chamber of Architects and Chamber of Planners seminar on Spatial Planning and The Structure Plan Labour Shadow Minister Leo Brincat...
Opposition spokesman on the environment Leo Brincat yesterday called for a national conference on the role of local councils in waste management...
Labour Party’s environment spokesperson Leo Brincat revealed that Government will be turning to incineration as a result of its failure to reduce, reuse and recycle...
Forget for a moment the technicality that the post of auditor of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority will soon be migrating to the Ombudsman's Office...
Laqatni ħafna l-fatt li proprju fl-istess żmien li fih il-Greċja għamlet passi ta’ ġgant f’dak li hu investiment mil-Libja...
Last week I wrote dispassionately about the dearth of Libyan investment in Malta, notwithstanding the fact that the Libyans have a very dynamic Libyan Investment Authority...
The Ministry of Resources' statement that a wind farm in Gozo was always planned to be incorporated in the Eco Gozo project is baffling to put it mildly..
This is not a guide to pregnancy or maternity. Nor is it about the rather limp Hugh Grant romantic comedy with the same name...
It would be sickening to poke fun at dementia sufferers but one cannot afford to let cases of political dementia go by without commenting about them...
The government should clearly declare alternative wind farm sites it to is-Sikka l-Bajda, should this site be found not viable...
The recent Israeli complete mishandling of the Gaza bound flotilla incident as a result of which a commando raid on the Turkish-flagged ship left nine international activists...
Ftit jiem ilu Lawrence Gonzi ried ibellagħhielna li l-partit tiegħu se jisplodi bl-ideat. Naħseb kif sejrin l-affarijiet aktar hemm ċans li l-Partit Nazzjonalista...
Many eminent government members, particularly the Minister of Finance who is currently also responsible for Enemalta, have always been quick to dismiss hazardous waste as a mere irritant....
While one welcomes the parliamentary reply I was given by the minister concerned that Transport Malta is considering various proposals to reduce the impact of the proposed flyover at Kappara...
Like all other EU member states, by the end of this month Malta must submit to the European Commission its national renewable energy action plan to 2020...
No amount of cheap rhetoric and pipe dreams meant to create the image of a PN moving beyond its borders and into what is now termed Vision 2015+...
Vigilant in his scrutiny of government, moderate in language, eager to show Labour’s propositive side and somewhat evasive on conflicting interests, a vintage Leo Brincat embodies...
While rumour has it that the PM uses a Prada cell-phone it is by now common knowledge that the extension of the power station...
Għalkemm wieħed ma jiħux gost meta Partit Laburista ħabib joħroġ tellief f’elezzjoni ġenerali f’pajjiżu, il-kitba kienet ilha mal-ħajt fir-Renju Unit...
In Malta we must have broken an all-time record, in the sense that in these past 30 years or so, hardly ever has a politician been nailed for corruption while every attempt at transparency...
Incest in itself is one of the most heinous of crimes but political 'incest' has become almost just as bad...particularly in Malta...
No matter how the new British coalition government will perform or even how long it will last, in spite of the fact that contrary to what Andrew Rawnsley predicted...
There was a noticeable drop in the rates of lung cancer with increasing distance from the Marsa Power Station, according to studies...
The only reason why a particular Nationalist MP has gone down in local political history as Il-Lapsus is a ruling given in 1997 by the Speaker of the House, Myriam Spiteri Debono...
Mill-mod kif tmexxew l-affarijiet fil-Parlament mis-Sedja, l-Iskrivan tal-Kamra u l-Leader of the House, jidher ċar li bħalissa...
In my years in Parliament, never have I experienced such a deep feeling of perceived collusion between the executive arm of government, the Chair and the Office of the Clerk of the House...
In the next few days - if not even hours - Lawrence Gonzi will be facing one of his most important tests. A litmus test as to whether he truly believes in parliamentary democracy, transparency and accountability...
The fact that Lawrence Gonzi is surrounded by a bunch of cronies whose skills fall far short of those of EFA’s inner sanctum, is making it very evident...
The opposition's spokesman on the environment Leo Brincat has reiterated his call for the government to hold a national conference on the state of the environment...
No matter how hard Lawrence Gonzi might try to play the Invisible Man it so happens that apart from being our PM he is also the Minister for the Environment as well as...
Opposition spokesman for the environment, sustainable development and climate change Leo Brincat said yesterday that certain gaps in environmental data need to be prioritised...
When intervening during the parliamentary debate on 'The State of the Environment Report', that was held on the initiative of the Labour Party, main Opposition spokesperson for the...
There is a strong feeling in the trade that had BWSC not had an inkling that emission levels would have been reduced they might not have considered tendering at all while...
BIEX wieħed ixomm ir-riħa tinten ta’ taħwid, tbażwir, irregolaritajiet u nuqqas ta’ trasparenza fil-mod kif ġie ttrattat it-‘tender’ għall-estensjoni tal-famuża power station...
The House of Representatives is expected to debate The Environment Report 2008, which was published recently by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (Mepa)...
There are very few instances when I agree politically with PM Lawrence Gonzi but I am inclined to agree with what he said last Thursday...
Many are no doubt familiar with the old mantra in the electricity industry that "the cheapest energy is the energy that you do not use" and "the most expensive energy is the energy that you cannot have"...
By the time this article appears in print it is likely that the Popemobiles are already being shipped back home while we can feel comforted that the phallic monument at Luqa...
Opposition environment spokesman Leo Brincat has complained that smoke is still coming out from the chimney of St Luke's Hospital...
While the Maltese general election may be three years or less away, the British election campaign has less than three weeks to go, and yet it might be opportune to risk drawing...
Enemalta seems to have no qualms about squandering public funds on massive multi-media ads to mitigate the resultant political fall-out of the government's...
The paid advertising campaign being run by Enemalta in connection with the cut in emissions expected from the power station extension...
The Labour Party and the people were not impressed with the money being squandered on deceitful adverts by Enemalta...
If there is one good thing in Maltese politics it is that there is never a dull moment...
Many are those who still remain mystified and perplexed as to why Malta happens to be one of the regular laggards when it comes to submitting environment-related data to the EU...
Malta’s delay in providing the emission levels on climate change to the EU could not be seen in isolation, the PL’s environment spokesman said.
Although Andrew Rawnsley is increasingly unlikely to live to regret having called his latest best-seller on the British Labour Party...
While I have reason to believe that the Labour Party's call for a parliamentary debate on the state of the environment report will be met favourably...
Towards the end of last week Government belatedly published the ‘Environment report’ for the year 2008 based on ‘The state of the environment report’ together with the relevant indicators...
The original Lisbon agenda was to make Europe "the most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy in the world capable of sustainable economic...
Jidher ċar li mill-btajjel parlamentari m’aħniex neqsin. L-importanti għal Gonzi huwa li l-Gvern tiegħu jibqa’ għaddej jipprova jirrombla fuq kulħadd u jgħix mqar bl-ossiġnu...
The Labour Party today called for a debate in Parliament on the State of the Environment Report, published last week..
It may be that one day we will realise the need for a central and overarching environmental protection authority which would play second fiddle to none...
Most resignations from key international posts often solicit many queries and questions but surprisingly very little was written about the recent resignation of the UN Climate Chief Yvo de Boer...
A Nationalist majority approved the MEPA reform in parliament turning down the Labour Party’s proposals, including having MEPA workings being scrutinized by a parliamentary committee...
The report of the Labour Party statement on the government's announcement of the formulation of an environmental policy within 18 months was distorted and economical with the truth, to put it mildly (March 15)...
It was a bizarre coincidence that the appointment of parliamentary assistants by Lawrence Gonzi coincided with the second anniversary of this administration...
Ilum f’pajjiżna daħal faqar ġdid. Li l-Ingliżi ilhom snin sħaħ isejħulu ‘energy poverty’. Xi ħaġa li llum ħadet ukoll dimensjoni Ewropea.
The best way to summarise the manner in which the government has handled the draft legislation on Mepa reform is to dismiss it as baffling, to put it mildly....
The concept of energy poverty might be something new for the Maltese isles but it is something that Maltese taxpayers...
Opposition spokesman on the environment Leo Brincat claimed yesterday that Mepa had to dance to the Cabinet's tune and with the Mepa reform bill...
As parliament started discussing the Environment and Development Planning Bill yesterday, the Opposition raised a number of issues, particularly...
From the way the Prime Minister has been conducting his haphazardly organised fire-fighting parliamentary group meetings one can easily detect that rather than engaging on a charm offensive...
Jkun xi jkun il-vot aħħari tal-mozzjoni li se jressaq il-PL illejla u tkun xi tkun l-attitudni tad-deputati tal-Gvern, ninsab konvint li illejla anke dawk li forsi ma jaqblux magħna dwar aspetti jew issues oħrajn...
One of the rumours doing the rounds right now is that government could be tempted to call a snap election in the wake of the Pope’s forthcoming visit to Malta...
When the PL came out with a proposal for Mepa to shift from its by now dated and hackneyed structure plans to spatial planning - a holistic planning concept that has been long embraced in many other European...
Going by the law of averages and according to the way logic dictates, someone responsible for the environment, tourism, sustainable development, Mepa and culture should have definitely been elevated to a Cabinet minister...
While many were expecting the so-called Cabinet reshuffle to send a signal that government was going to get its act together and weed out its inefficiencies and dead wood, we had to settle instead for a cosmetic...
Bl-ebda mod dan l-artiklu mhu intiż biex jikkummenta dwar il-familja personali tal-Prim Ministru. Qatt ma rrikorrejt għall-kitba ta’ dan it-tip u lanqas biħsiebni nagħmel dan...
The idea of a nine-day PL AGM might have initially sounded overwhelming both to the party delegates as well as to political analysts and watchers beyond the confines of the CNL...
MOVIMENT progressiv u moderat ma jitwelidx mil-lejl għan-nhar, iżda huwa parti minn mixja twila u tqila fejn il-perseveranza, id-determinazzjoni u l-impenn huma kollox...
The MEPA Board meeting and public hearing of last Thursday sent one important message to the public...
To ignore sustainable development completely is bad enough. To make a mockery of it is worrying indeed. But to reduce it to a mere buzzword should be a matter of concern to us all...
Only time will tell whether the Malta Environment and Planning Authority 'reform' will either serve to reinvent Mepa or else end up as just another political charade...
According to Parliamentary Secretary Mario de Marco the law is not meant to be the reform. He said so in the Sunday Times a few days ago...
The PL would have been reactive and negative on Mepa reform had it chosen, a priori, to merely shoot down the government’s proposals without even finding a single redeeming feature to praise or single out...
The Labour Party yesterday accused Waste Oils Company Ltd of illegally discharging material through sewers and culverts, causing noxious smells around Hexagon House in Marsa...
Ikolli nistqarr li kont ili ma nieħu gost nieħu sehem f’seminar organizzat tajjeb, bħal dak dwar it-tibdil tal-klima li organizza d-Dipartiment Internazzjonali tal-Università fl-Awla Magna ftit jiem ilu...
The Department of International Relations of the University of Malta needs to be congratulated for having stimulated the climate debate further during its recent symposium...
Now that climate/environmental/sustainable development and energy issues have become increasingly intertwined and interlinked...
As the New Year kicks in, I can safely predict that the level of rhetoric will not only rise but that there will also be a deterioration in the way that the political game is played...
Lil hinn mill-awguri tradizzjonali iżda sinċiera għal sena ġdida mimlija risq u hena lil kulħadd, ippermettuli nirrifletti ftit f’din l-ewwel kolonna tiegħi tas-sena 2010...
The Labour Party expressed "solidarity" with Sliema residents after an association representing them voiced concern about the government's...
Filwaqt li offra s-solidarjetà tiegħu mar-residenti ta’ Tas-Sliema, inkluża s-Sliema Residents’ Association, wara t-tħassib ġustifikat tagħhom dwar id-deroga li qiegħda titlob Malta...
The deal clinched in the final hours of negotiations in Copenhagen was striking only in the sense of what it left out from what was expected of it...
The issues at stake within the PN ranks go far beyond what really happened yesterday week in the House of Representatives...
L-aktar espressjoni li laqtitni fil-forum riċenti li organizzaw għadd ta’ għaqdiet ambjentali meta tkellmu dwar il-ħniżrijiet li qegħdin isiru fil-qasam tal-ambjent...
The deal clinched in the final hours of negotiations in Copenhagen was striking only in the sense of what it left out from what was expected of it...
It is pointless blaming EIA consultants when it is the Environment Impact Statement process itself in Malta that creaks and stretches credibility way beyond snapping point...
Whatever one might think of Eddie Fenech Adami the politician, one has to hand it to him for having been the most successful electorally, having managed to trounce three Prime Ministers...
The past week was interesting in the sense that it further confirmed the free fall the PN happens to be in...
Dan kien baġit fejn dawk li jiġbdu l-ispag minn wara l-kwinti kien mingħalihom li se jħalluna b’xiber imnieħer, bir-reazzjoni tagħna għalih midfuna u mistura ħalli kemm...
Labour MP Leo Brincat has appealed for a more in-depth assessment of the health impact of the Delimara Power Station extension, saying that various independent technical advisors...
It is not my role to give reaction media reports, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said when asked for an official reaction...
The international mood regarding the Copenhagen Climate Summit has swung over the months from one of high expectations to one of growing pessimism and now to a new-found sense...
An internal MEPA memo confirmed that MEPA employees were told to refrain from asking MEPA auditor Joseph Falzon to investigate suspicious cases...
Sometime, somehow, the black dust issue might be resolved although from what the PM told the House during his concluding remarks at the...
Although the House - including government MPs - were hoping that in this day and age of forensics and technological advancement the black dust issue would have been...
Opposition MP Leo Brincat said in Parliament yesterday that, contrary to procedure, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi had either misled the House intentionally or otherwise, or had himself been misled by Mepa...
A lack of follow-through, or progress in fits and starts, seemed to have unfortunately become an endemic problem with a number of initiatives in Malta...
The issue of fly ash packaging and transportation has never been high on the list of issues which concern us as a people. Yet, the recent shocking news about the amount of toxic...
Please refer to the report of my parliamentary speech on the estimates of the Ministry of Resources. Contrary to what was implied...
MEPA employees were told to refrain from asking MEPA auditor, Joseph Falzon, to investigate suspicious cases that came to their attention...
If proof were ever needed that Opposition Leader Joseph Muscat won the recent parliamentary budget replies between himself and the Prime Minister...
Expectations were raised high as to whether the government would shed light on various grey areas concerning the climate-energy and waste management sectors in the past few days...
IL-gimgħa li għaddiet kellna l-aqwa konferma fil-Parlament u fuq it-TV li Joseph Muscat hu mexxej deċiżiv. Flok waqa’ fin-nassa mixtieqa minn tal-PN li jmaqdar...
Enemalta still has no internal auditor, even though a public call for applications for made in December, Opposition Leader Joseph Muscat said...
The Maltese islands have failed to provide the EU reports on the implementation of a number of waste directives, while the only information available shows...
A board on inquiry set up to investigate the permit given for the construction of a Lidl supermarket in Safi has been granted an extension.
As expected Budget 2010 was meant to offer some short-term gain and respite to a beleaguered PN while camouflaging the long-term pain that is waiting the electorate come next January...
Dan il-baġit kien qisu dak li l-Ingliżi jsejħu ‘work in progress.’ Biċċa xogħol nofs leħja u mhix mitmuma. Minkejja li sa lejliet il-baġit innifsu l-korpi kostitwiti baqgħu...
The recent attacks on the Mepa Auditor by none other than the Prime Minister himself and MEPA has more do to with this government's attitude...
A blogger in another section of the local media could not but help reacting by quoting some of the Beatles’ lyrics of their song Nowhere Man...
Iċ-ċittadini Maltin u Għawdxin kollha llejla jistennew bi dritt lill-Gvern dgħajjef u indeċiz ta’ Lawrence Gonzi biex jkun saqajh mal-art...
I would like to congratulate former Nationalist minister Jesmond Mugliett for having shown his deep concern in Parliament to the Prime Minister about the black dust issue through his moving demand for a serious reply...
Labour MP Leo Brincat, party spokesman for the environment, said environmental health was at the top of the PL’s agenda because it directly affected the standard of living and quality of life of people...
Earlier this week the PL called for an urgent budgetary reform of the eco-contribution system. While some media chose to ignore this public appeal to the government...
It should come as no surprise to anyone that horse trading over a would-be climate deal in Copenhagen will go on till practically the very end, with all parties keeping their cards very much close to their chest...
It is interesting and intriguing to note that while the government has chosen the date of 9.11 to present its Budget 2010...
On Wednesday, during parliamentary question time, the Prime Minister was once again absent although the Deputy Speaker confirmed that he was not away from the island...
Opposition environment spokesman Leo Brincat today called on the government to assume political responsibility for the problem of black dust, thought to be soot, over the south of Malta...
he massive PL manifestation held last Sunday at Zabbar was not a mere protest activity. On the contrary it was intended to instill a ray of hope and confidence in the future amongst society at large...
Government should honour its promises on eco-contribution in the next Budget, the Labour Party is insisting. Environment spokesman Leo Brincat noted that while the promised refunds to companies which recycle...
The emphasis made on cleaner air in this year's budget remained just a promise, Labour environment spokesman Leo Brincat has said...
Ftit ilu ltqajt ma’ Nazzjonalist li llum jinsab disilluż ferm bit-tmexxija ta’ Lawrence Gonzi. Mhuwiex Nazzjonalist kwalunkwe. Iżda l-aktar li laqatni huwa meta qalli li qatt ma jiftakar mexxej daqstant...
Article from Indepdendent on Sudnay.The emphasis laid in the budget for this year about the need for cleaner air in Malta has remained just a promise, Labour Party environment spokesman Leo Brincat said at a meeting he had at the party headquarters with representatives of Nature Trust, led by chairman Vince Attard.Neither have any studies been published about the impact on health made by the propo
In spite of parliamentary reassurances that we were given last Monday that the black dust issue is a new phenomenon that needs probing deeper and that still needs to be subjected to scientific analysis overseas...
The Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, Mario de Marco, yesterday pointed out that his absence from Parliament on Wednesday afternoon was due to the fact that he was at a meeting with officials...
The reason why the government is to blame on the gaming regulations currently being debated – in fits and starts according to the whims of and hiccups in the Nationalist Parliamentary Group – is the following...
It was disgraceful that the source of soot found in several parts of the south of Malta had not been identified yet, the Labour Party said today...
The Malta Environment and Planning Authority faces a backlog of 7,372 pending enforcement orders against planning infractions, of which 5,400 date back to more than three years...
We have heard much about the importance of developing a green economy in Malta. Some of the leading ambassadors on the island have referred to our so far untapped potential for green technological inflows...
Meta servejt ghall ghadd ta’ snin bhala is-Segretarju Internazzjonali tal-Partit Laburista l-aktar erbgha partiti socjalisti li konnha nsibu ispirazzjoni minnhom kienu dak Germaniz...
Almost two weeks ago the National Audit Office published a report by the Auditor General by way of a Performance Audit on Renewable Energy Sources and Energy Efficiency in Malta...
The $64,000 question does not merely concern the ticklish issue as to whether the Copenhagen Climate Summit will lead to a binding accord, a mere framework or, even worse...
Many are under the wrong impression that climate change is a purely environmental issue. Wrong. I was first drawn to it from a geo political and geo strategic angle when shadowing Foreign Affairs...
L-ahhar Budget kien inqara nhar it 3 ta’ Novembru, 2008. Dak in nhar weghduna...
Labour MP Leo Brincat, party spokesman for the environment, said the government should reply to the 20 points raised by the Auditor General about...
I consider it a gross mistake that the Maltese government decided to embark on a climate adaptation study only after its mitigation study had been completed...
When people turn 60 many things can happen. Their ageing process can quicken, their biological age might turn out to be younger than their chronological age...
We might be blessed that right now we have a US President who rather than living in a state of denial the way his predecessor did on climate issues, is strongly committed on seeing his electoral agenda true...
Il-festi tal-Indipendenza tal-PN ġew u marru mingħajr ma qajmu wisq entużjażmu. Wieħed jifhem dan malajr...
The government does not seem to have a clue how to sustainably finance the climate change mitigation strategy, details of which were given earlier this week...
Ftit ilu xxukjajt ruħi meta smajt li xi ħadd imdaħħal sew fil-politika qal li l-problema tal-bram hija ferm aktar importanti mit-tibdil tal-klima...
Ghal darb’oħra l-gvern nazzjonalista jidher li mhuwiex ippreparat u lanqas qed jgħid meta se jkun possibbli li pajjiżna jibda jipproduċi l-enerġija li għandu bżonn permezz ta’ power station li taħdem bil-gass...
B’rabta ma’ dak li kien żvelat minn din il-gazzetta fis-6 ta’ Settembru li għadda dwar l-għoti ta’ tender mill-Awtorità Maltija għat-Turiżmu...
Many Maltese - politicians included - are in two minds as to what they really mean by a competitive Malta...
Media gurus and communications experts might not necessarily have been flown in from abroad but there is no doubt that the PN is currently undertaking a soul searching exercise to think up ways and means of rebranding itself...
Il-Kelliem Ewlieni Laburista dwar l-Ambjent, l-Iżvilupp Sostenibbli u t-Tibdil tal-Klima, id-deputat parlamentari Leo Brincat qal li hemm baħar jaqsam bejn il-kliem u l-fatti...
The Labour Party has called on the government to establish what caused a foul spell which was noticed in several localities two weeks ago...
There was a wide gulf between what Minister George Pullicino said on alternative energy, and what he did, Labour MP Leo Brincat, spokesman on the environment, said...
The more we wallow in nostalgia about the ‘good old days’ of our relations with Libya, the more I get that nagging feeling that we are progressively...
Il-PARTIT Laburista għamel sew li kien u għadu prudenti sew dwar dan il-proġett minkejja d-dubbji ġodda li qegħdin jissemmew..
Malta should start labelling all products with their carbon footprint so that greenhouse gas emissions can be measured in advance, the Labour Party said yesterday...
The alternative energy sector in Malta has lain neglected for years, in spite of the many proposals and plans announced by the government...
Labour Party environment spokesman Leo Brincat has accepted an invitation to join the Circle of Mediterranean Parliamentarians for Sustainable Development (COMPSUD)...
Until a few days ago the prospect of Japan turning Left seemed to be as probable as that of China turning Right...
Residents from various localities across Malta are reporting an insistent foul smell of gas...
The government had to clearly say what was happening with its incinerators at St Lukes, Marsa and that projected for Delimara, the Labour Party’s spokesman for the Environment, Leo Brincat said...
When the PL puts pressure on the government to own up and come clean on issues that either lack transparency or else which are inefficiency laden...
Kif jafu l-qarrejja tal-ġurnal tiegħek jien kont u se nibqa’ nikkritika lill-Gvern u lill-MEPA kemm-il darba dan se jibqa’ jippermettilha topera f’mod inkonsistenti...
The Labour Party spokesperson for the Environment, Sustainable Development and Climate Change, Leo Brincat argues that, since 2010 is but a 4 months away...
With reference to the report of my statement carried in The Times under the title Power Stations Pollution 'Unresolved' (August 27), please note that the main...
Malta was still not sending the EU detailed reports on air pollution, the Labour Party’s spokesman for the Environment, Leo Brincat said...
Malta was one of only 2 EU member states to register an increase in sulphur oxide emissions between 1990 and 2007, and one of only 6 registering an increase in nitrogen oxide emissions, an EU report confirms...
It has long been evident that sustainable development in Malta has always been kept relegated to a mere buzz word...
Il-fatt li l-iskandlu tal-Baħrija mhux biss faqqa’ iżda spiċċa biex kien irtirat permess wieħed biss tal-applikant jistona aktar u jdarras is-snien iżjed, meta wieħed jiftakar li din l-oxxenità seħħet proprju meta Lawrence Gonzi suppost li qed jaħmi l-hekk imsejħa riforma tal-MEPA...
A number of people who have purchased a solar water heater are now questioning the reasons behind the delays in the rebate scheme...
I refer to the Ministry of Resources' reply to my media statement on the fact that the pre-budget document lacks a green perspective...
The acronym of BRIC for the economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China is known to have been first used extensively by Goldman Sachs in a 2003 report...
Summer 2009 is bound to prove to be a long hot summer for Lawrence Gonzi much more than William Faulkner ever dreamt it to be in his play with the same title...
Nahseb li żgur taqblu miegħi li din is-sena verament kellna sajf iswed għall-ambjent f’pajjiżna. Jekk nibda nsemmi każi speċifiċi ma nispiċċa qatt iżda għal-lum biżżejjed infakkarkom f’dawn li ġejjin...
The pre-budget document makes no mention of the environment, alternative energy and climate change, the Opposition environment spokesman has complained...
When the first draft of the climate change report commissioned by the government saw the light of day last year, our immediate reaction was that of highlighting that the report merely addressed mitigation measures without taking adaptation measures into consideration...
People in the trade have been baffled over past months why it it took government so long to legislate on the illegal gaming arcades that have been mushrooming all over the island, sometimes even close to churches and schools amongst other institutions...
With reference to the editorial on the subject of noise pollution (August 6), it remains baffling indeed why in spite of having been an EU member for the last five years, Malta continues to drag its feet on the implementation of comprehensive noise pollution legislation in line with the relevant EU directives...
Labour’s spokesperson for the environment Leo Brincat said a report by the EU’s Council of Ministers had revealed Malta had not yet started implementing European directives on noise abatement.
Last Friday’s National Conference on the so called MEPA Reform was meant to draw the line before government got down to business to start formulating the necessary legislative changes...
Kumment minn Leo Brincat qala’ furur u f’leħħa ta’ berqa blogger, l-Istampa tal-Partit Nazzjonalista u l-ħbieb tal-partit ingħaqdu flimkien biex jattakkaw lid-Deputat Laburista...
L-aktar tagħlima importanti li ħarġet mill-iskandlu tal-Baħrija kienet li tajbin kemm ikunu tajbin ir-regolamenti tal-MEPA issa u ’l quddiem, iċ-ċavetta ta’ kollox hija dwar kemm se jkun hemm serjetà u konsistenza fl-implimentazzjoni tagħhom...
The man who has spent the past 15 years fighting discrimination against disabled people yesterday criticised those he said were "blowing out of proportion" a remark made by Labour MP Leo Brincat.
The Labour Party is calling for urgency to determine the origin of the black, gritty dust being deposited on localities in the southern harbour region, PL Environment, Sustainable Development and Climate Change spokesperson Leo Brincat said at a news conference outside the Tarxien local council yesterday morning...
The Labour Party urged the government to identify the source of ‘black dust’ which has been found in the localities of Tarxien, Fgura, Marsa and Paola...
There is no doubt that Anthony Giddens will go down in history for having coined The Third Way, something that has become even more relevant now that British Labour seems to have lost its way...
From the frantic blogging of a PN propagandist allegedly close to RCC, in which a blistering attack was unsuccessfully launched against AD and PL leading officials, one could easily imagine that the Victor Scerri scandal was going to peak within hours...
Opposition environment spokesman Leo Brincat said today that it was shameful that a court had to remind the country that it does not have laws against noise pollution...
A recent court ruling by the Chief Justice exposes the shameful fact that Malta has no regulations to protect citizens from noise pollution...
The government was not showing commitment and political will towards safeguarding the environment and this could be seen from the lack of law enforcement, the Labour Party's spokesman for the environment, Leo Brincat said....
When a few days ago I spent a week in China on Foreign and European Affairs Committee business I was pleasantly surprised to learn during official talks that in spite of various other almost insurmountable problems, for the Chinese authorities the global financial crisis and climate change are considered to be top priority items....
Qed nindirizza dan il-kumment lil Lawrence Gonzi u mhux lil Austin Gatt għax wara kollox huwa responsabbli għal dak kollu li qed jiġri f’pajjiżna bħalissa...
Ivin Catania jintervista lil Leo Brincat fil gazzetta it-Torca.
The Malta Standards Authority’s decision to start phasing out incandescent bulbs shows that Labour was right in 2008 when it urged government to prohibit the use of these lamps and encourage the use of more efficient alternatives...
No excuse will make up for the environmental damage to the detriment of the Maltese citizens due to a government’s irresponsibility, said Labour Party spokesperson on the environment, sustainable development and climate change, Leo Brincat...
When the PL changed its statute recently to my mind the most important change concerned our decision to turn the environment and sustainable development into one of our beliefs rather than mere policies...
Before the 6 June elections, the Nationalist Party media were claiming that government was about to launch its final report on climate change in Malta – a month later, the report remains unpublished, and a parliamentary debate on climate change scheduled for this week was cancelled.
This is not a snide remark against the colour of the skin of the charismatic American President. Neither is it a question that just came to mind. I felt compelled to write this article after having been intrigued by an interesting interview that the Oxford historian and Europhile Timothy Garton Ash gave to DER SPIEGEL ON LINE INTERNATIONAL when he concluded that Obama is certainly a European...
Clean technology covers anything from renewable energy in all its forms as well as information technology, green transportation and any appliances that are now more energy efficient...
L-Oppożizzjoni permezz tal-Kelliem Ewlieni dwar l-Ambjent u Żvilupp Sostenibbli, Leo Brincat, talbet lill-Prim Ministru jagħmel inkjesta indipendenti dwar il-każi kollha fejn il-MEPA approvat il-ħruġ ta’ permessi, speċjalment dawk barra ż-żoni għall-iżvilupp (ODZs), li jmorru kontra l-policies tagħha...
In an official statement in the Letters To The Editor column, Enemalta stated that CO2 is just a greenhouse gas and does not have a direct effect on the health of people since if we did we would all be dead, as we exhale CO2, when we breathe out...
Both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition have been interviewed many times by the independent media in the past months, but one particular interview that the Prime Minister will surely come to regret is the one he recently gave to the Sunday Times...
To try and dupe people into thinking that we should be thankful for this plant simply because it is far better than the Marsa plant is just like trying to convince the driver of a run down third hand Ford Escort that replacing it with a new technologically...
Nemmen li il-Partit Laburista jinsab miexi u ghandu jimxi fid-direzzjoni li jkun il-Partit Ambjentali ta’ pajjizna ghall dawn ir-ragunijiet...
Political life is full of ironies and surprises. Some pleasant and some not. While the Nationalist MEP Simon Busuttil has broken all records by polling the highest vote during the recent Euro elections, many Nationalist activists are quite rightly blaming him for his supreme fiasco after having spearheaded and masterminded their dismal election campaign as unofficial chief strategist...
When push comes to shove during the next general election the determining factor as to who the majority of the Maltese will be voting for will neither be the billboards, the manifestos or the election campaigns, but will boil down to two major factors...
Giving credit where credit is due is the most basic and elementary of norms...
Kif jista’ jikkonferma l-Editur ta’ dan il-ġurnal dan l-artiklu qed jinkiteb qabel ma sirna nafu r-riżultat tal-Elezzjoni tal-Parlament Ewropew. Ippermettuli nagħmel ftit osservazzjonijiet dwar il-kampanja inġenerali taż-żewġ partiti mingħajr ma naf l-eżitu tal-elezzjoni jew min ġie elett...
earing in mind that Joseph Muscat has been at the helm of the party for only one year, Sunday’s PL victory in the Euro elections goes to prove that the young and resilient leader has not only managed to humiliate a downtrodden Lawrence Gonzi...
No one can be blamed for thinking that we are on the eve of yet another general election when the Nationalist Party mobilised all of its own – or rather the government’s – resources to either win the forthcoming Euro elections at all costs or else to try and mitigate any damage that it might incur....
Who can blame you if you pause and wonder as you factor in the following as the run up to June 6 fast approaches?
Ghalkemm qatt ma kont u qatt ma kkontestajt ghall-Parlament Ewropew servejt sa mill bidu nett fil-Kumitat Konjunt tal-Parlament Malti u l-Parlament Ewropew sakemm sirna membri shah tal-UE...
When Nationalist-leaning media talk of Labour landslides one can easily tell that they have two strategies in mind – to render Labour voters complacent and to rally the Nationalist voters – disgruntled ones included. One does not have to be a media guru, a sharp political analyst or a rocket scientist to figure this out. Under normal circumstances such generosity does not come easy...
Il-Partiti Socjalisti Ewropej (PES) ghadhom kif hargu dokument interessanti hafna li juri il-qerq u l-ipokrizija li hemm fil-manifest tal-Partiti Demokristjani u Konservattivi tal-Parlament Ewropew...
I refer to the article entitled PM Accuses Labour Of Endangering Jobs wherein The Times quoted the Prime Minister as having been scandalised by my statement during Bondìplus that the opposition would base its decision on wind farms on the basis of public perceptions and that politics based on public perception surveys would see policies change like the direction of the wind...
If you think spin doctoring and media distortions are just part of the local MEP elections campaign you are definitely mistaken...
I find it irresistible to refrain from drawing comparison between the PN strategists’ game plans and the famous book Games People Play by psychiatrist Eric Berne, in which he outlined and studied in depth a whole series of functional and dysfunctional social interactions...
Ghalkemm jiena dejjem sostnejt li elezzjonijiet bhall dawk tas 6 ta’ Gunju huma biss Charity Shield hdejn ir-rebh tal-Premier League – permezz ta’ rebha fl-elezzjoni generali min minghalih li din it-tellieqa mhiex importanti ghall-PN sejjer zbaljat...
The way government policy about wind energy has evolved over the past years and months reminds me of a wind powered game of Snakes & Ladders. As long drawn out as a Brazilian soap opera, as convoluted as an Ingmar Bergman movie and as incomprehensible as Kafka might prove to be for the uninitiated...
This has nothing to do at all with virility issues but it says much about how Malta is finding that even its best of friends are letting it down badly and regularly in the hour of need on illegal immigration issues...
A projected increase in the capacity of an offshore wind farm at Is-Sikka l-Bajda is why the estimated investment has shot up by more than €150 million...
Għalkemm wara ħafna tkaxkir tas-saqajn il-Prim Ministru sa fl-aħħar ħabbar tliet siti għal studji aktar fil-fond dwar ‘wind farms’ f’pajjiżna huwa baqa’ ma laqax it-talbiet ripetuti tal-Oppożizzjoni biex jippubblika l-istudji kollha tekniċi li ġew kkummissjonati f’dawn l-aħħar snin u anki xhur inklużi rapporti kuntrarji għal uħud mis-siti magħżula....
One does not need to be a rocket scientist or an Oxbridge educated political analyst to realise that the Nationalist government needed badly the visit by the UN Secretary General to try and use the 20th anniversary of its Resolution on Climate Change at the UN in 1988 to make up for its deficiencies since then, in the run up to the European elections...
Il-konsultazzjoni pubblika li organizza l-Kunsill Lokali ta’ Marsaxlokk u li mexxa tant tajjeb il-Viċi Sindku Edric Micallef jekk ma serviet għal xejn serviet biex turi li minkejja li l-Gvern qed jgħid li kollox għadu fi stadju purament konsultattiv u preliminari, il-Gvern jaf fejn irid jasal. Tant li jidher li kollox huwa lest biex jinstallaw inċineratur fir-raħal ta’ Marsaxlokk....
Saviour Attard Bezzina has lived in Marsaxlokk for 25 years and he is still captivated by the picturesque fishing village. Last week, he joined dozens of Marsaxlokk residents who responded to a call from their local council to gather to learn more about the proposed incinerator...
The more time progresses and the more the Euro elections campaign gains in momentum, the more I am reminded of the well known song Oh, what a circus from the Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical Evita...
Waqt laqgħa pubblika lbieraħ filgħaxija fil-pjazza ta’ Marsaxlokk, il-Ministru għar-Riżorsi u l-Affarijiet Rurali, George Pullicino kkonferma li d-deċiżjoni li jinħoloq inċineratur ittieħdet iżda minkejja li l-post għadu ma ġiex ikkonfermat, kollox jindika li dan se jsir biswit il-Power Station ta’ Marsaxlokk...
The Obama Presidency and the recent G20 summit both represent symbols of hope. Yet, will they deliver and will they live up to expectations?
In the eventuality that anybody thinks that this is an article meant to rubbish the business sector worldwide in general and the Maltese business community in particular, allow me to put your minds at rest that this is definitely not the case...
Nistqarr li laqatni ħafna d-diskors tal-President il-ġdid George Abela. Nemmen li fih ried juri li għalkemm il-Presidenza hija meqjusa minn ħafna bħala kariga b’poteri ċerimonjali xorta waħda tista’ tintuża bħala strument għall-awtorità morali...
L-ewwel sena ta’ ħidma tal-Ministru Ġorġ Pullicino bħala Ministru tar-Risorsi kienet ikkaraterizzata minn politika ta’ ħabi li nisslet biss suspetti, qal il-Kelliem Ewlieni Laburista dwar l-Ambjent, l-Iżvilupp Sostenibbli u t-Tibdil tal-Klima, Leo Brincat f’reazzjoni li għamel għar-rapport ta’ ħidma tal-Ministru Pullicino...
The opposition has accused George Pullicino of deceiving the public throughout his first year as Minister for Resources and Rural Affairs...
WasteServ's decision to reply to my recent media release on the Marsa incinerator leaves much to be desired...
Just because he is middle aged, soberly suited, grey and compact and speaks softly in what has been described as ‘the fastidious register of academia’ Nicholas Stern is a man someone simply cannot afford to ignore. If on the other hand one chooses to do so he will be doing so at his own and the environment’s risk!
I am a firm believer in the potential of wind energy. My sole complaint is that we are eight years or so too late in tapping this source and by the time of writing the government has not yet published a national energy plan or even an alternative energy programme.
The second national communication to the Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC, originally scheduled to have been presented in January 2009, has had to be postponed due to difficulties encountered, including difficult coordination among the many experts whose contributions were needed...
It was a matter of serious concern for health and the quality of life in Malta that, according to an EU study, the people on Malta and Gozo are among the most disquieted in the EU about pollution in their country, Labour MP Leo Brincat, party spokesman for the environment, said...
Whatever political developments might take place on the local front throughout this week there is no doubt that the most salient factors are and will be the 30th anniversary of the 31 March, 1979 closure of the British military base and the parliamentary vote and swearing in of the new President of the Republic on Saturday...
Għadha kif ħarġet l-aħbar li l-Istati Uniti minn Mejju li għadda ħadet ħsieb li jiġu ‘resettled’ 223 refuġjat minn pajjiżna filwaqt li bħalissa tinsab tipproċessa 300 każ ieħor. Att u ġest nobbli ta’ solidarjetà ma’ pajjiżna...
The Labour Party has formally objected with the authorities on the government's three applications linked to the Ghadira road, the party's environmental spokesman, Leo Brincat, said...
Fil-kalendarju politiku tieghek bhala Kelliem Ewlieni trid izzomm bilanc bejn l-interessi tal-kostitwenza, ix-xoghol tieghek fil-Parlament u il-laqghat li tkun trid izzomm kemm f’Malta u barra il-pajjiz in konnessjoni mal-qasam li tkun responsabbli ghalih....
In politics one can rely on greenwash without resorting to hogwash. But in the case of "our" government, it has mastered the dubious art of doing both at the same time...
There is something almost fraudulent about the way this government goes about ‘doing politics’. If this is the new style of governing that we were promised, then God spare us! As time goes by the Gonzi government in its ways tends to remind me more and more of a Ponzi Scheme!!
Someone once remarked that the difference between a Labour Party media station and that of NET TV – in the latter case dwindling audiences and all – is such a yawning gap as if one were to compare CNN news with that of Al Jazeera!...
META bħal dan iż-żmien sena nħatar il-Kabinett il-ġdid il-Prim Ministru żamm wegħda waħda. Li jneħħi lill-MEPA minn idejn George Pullicino u jeħodha f’idejh. Dwar il-fjask li għamel u l-abbużi li baqgħu jsiru nitkellmu f’okkażjonijiet oħrajn...
During a recent Foreign and European Affairs Committee (FAEC) meeting which was addressed by Malta's Permanent Representative to the European Union, I officially protested about the fact that Richard Cachia Caruana seems to be somewhat unable to distinguish between his role as a Nationalist Party strategist and that of 'ambassador' representing the Maltese and Gozitans irrespective of their political beliefs....
Waqt laqgħa li kellu mal-espert tal-immaniġġjar tal-iskart tal-għaqda ambjentali Din l-Art Ħelwa, is-Sur G. Camilleri, il-Kelliem Ewlieni Laburista dwar l-Ambjent, l-Iżvilupp Sostenibbli u t-Tibdil fil-Klima, Leo Brincat qal li l-fatt li skont l-Eurostat Malta tipproduci fost l-ogħla livelli ta’ skart ras għal ras fl-UE, huwa ammissjoni tal-falliment tal-istrateġija tal-iskart tas-sena 2001...
Kien biss wara talba formali li ghamilt lill-Ministru George Pullicino bhal-lum gimgha fejn tlabtu jippublika xejn anqas minn 18-il studju konness mal-iskart solidu li l-Gvern bla kliem u bla sliem qabad u pogga l-istudju SITUATION AUDIT OF THE SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY FOR THE MALTESE ISLANDS fuq il-web site tal-Ministeru tal-Ambjent....
I refer to your editorial entitled Education: key to wipe out turtle-killer (TMID, 5 March) and in particular to the claim that the PL has not put enough political pressure on the government to improve the measure to reduce the use of plastic bags; that our criticism has so far proven weak and that more could have been done about it, although you credited me for writing and speaking about the issue. You also mentioned the fact that we did not go into ways of avoiding all the loopholes that come with introducing a measure...
Labour's environment spokesman Leo Brincat has urged fiscal incentives to be given for the use of light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs, which are even more efficient than conventional energy-saving bulbs...
Minister George Pullicino's latest Blogtime, shows that he is more interested in ferreting out the names of who is offering us free purely technical advice on environmental issues that include waste management, than in coming clean and giving us an example of true transparency and openness by making public all the studies linked to both the waste initiatives he proposed, as well as the site selection processes undergone....
The Maltese government has made no reaction to an agreement between France and Italy which paves the way for the development of four nuclear power stations in neighbouring Italy...
A global climate deal without China is like having a wedding without either the bride or the groom. The easiest way out is to rubbish the Chinese as laggards in the environmental and climate sectors but that is, in my opinion, both an oversimplistic and a naïve approach...
There was nothing more enlightening in the past few weeks than the recent Obama address to Congress. Not only did he urge bold action and big ideas, but as pointed out by analysts, he sought to convince an angry, anxious America that a moment of crisis is actually a time for expanding aspirations, not shrinking horizons. The International Herald Tribune remarked that the young new president projected a voice of generational confidence to a public that by one measure is less confident than at any other time since Obama was in grade school...
Until last Wednesday morning the Prime Minister and his party were still supporting the stand taken by the ‘independent’ St John’s Co Cathedral Foundation ‘pet’ project...
Only 19 projects from a total of 103 that required an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) have been turned down by the MEPA board, since 1995...
After addressing the Labour Party's recent AGM I was misreported by Net TV as having attacked the Nationalist Party for not having been successful in implementing alternative energy projects while rubbishing the Sikka l-Bajda wind farm project. This is a perversion of the truth. The very same media truth the Prime Minister clamoured for during a Tumas Fenech Foundation keynote speech he delivered last Friday....
With the St John’s Co-Cathedral issue firmly in mind, I can safely say that never before has a cathedral been centre stage in a political saga since the days when Archbishop Thomas Becket was assassinated in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170. The memories of TS Elliot’s poetic drama ‘Murder in the Cathedral’ are still as vivid as those of the Peter O’Toole/Richard Burton movie ‘Becket.’...
Way back in December 2002 the process began for drafting the National strategy for Sustainable Development. On that occasion the National Commission for Sustainable Development set up a Task Force to oversee the preparation of such a strategy document which was meant to ‘consist of an overarching vision and principles, listing the aspirations of Government, civil society and the private sector in this regard, and outlining methods of implementation, taking into account Malta’s capacities and constraints.’...
Labour’s spokesperson for the environment, Leo Brincat, has called for an immediate change to the new rules on plastic bags, scheduled for the 1 March...
The Malta Environment and Planning Authority is investigating 21 permits issued for horse stables outside development zones, amid reports that these have been converted into farmhouses...
The PN might have some 77 electoral promises in their manifesto and some 87 recommendations in their climate change consultation document but when we put hype and spin apart we will soon find that their environmental record so far since re-assuming office has been dismal, to say the least...
The Malta Environment and Planning Authority issued 173 permits for developments lying outside the development boundaries (ODZ) in the first two months of 2008...
Every political party every now and then goes through a degree of political turbulence. But judging by various media reports that have surfaced in the independent press these last few weeks, they seem to suggest that storm clouds might be gathering on the PN front...
A couple of years ago some of the fastest selling books were the Harry Potter "sagas". Meanwhile, progressively a different phenomenon emerged. Books about atheism. In just a few months we had at least three international best-sellers competing to make a case for atheism. Whether this was triggered by emotional or intellectual considerations is far beyond me. I think it was more of an easy way of fattening their bank balances...
Working on a Dream is the title of a new CD album that Bruce Springsteen is due to release on 27 January. He has been quoted as saying that he hopes Working on a Dream has caught the energy of the band fresh off the road from some of the most exciting shows they have ever done...
Until a few months ago Alan Greenspan, the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board from 1987 to 2006, was considered an icon in the global financial world. His autobiography was ironically called The Age Of Turbulence – Adventures In A New World. But since then his successes have turned into failures and he now stands to be judged for the errors, misguided ideas and wrong sense of direction he offered the American financial world...
Labour’s environment spokesperson Leo Brincat has accused Lawrence Gonzi of dragging his feet on the implementation of the Energy Efficiency Directive, which lays down efficiency standards for new buildings...
There is a slight possibility that when the President Elect of the United States moves formally into the White House on 20 January, the Middle East flare-up between Israelis and Palestinians might have cooled down. But that, in my opinion is a remote, if not also an unfeasible possibility...
The other day I came across a news item in one of the local daily newspapers which reported that representatives of the
Federation of Industry had just attended an overseas discussion on energy and climate change. This is a most positive signal indeed, because without a pivotal and proactive role by the private business sector it will be virtually impossible for any country - big or small - to carry out the transformational process of our energy system to a low carbon economy. What we are talking about in this particular instance are significant investments but also more technological innovations and increased energy efficiency.... Readers will surely allow me to adopt a tounge-in-cheek approach as I take a dispassionate look at some of the key local and international figures and events that left their mark throughout the year that is fast approaching it’s end...
With Christmas only two days away I will stick to my custom of recent years of taking a look at some of those books which I consider to be the best released this year, as well as some movies that intrigued me in more ways than one...
The Labour Party favours the gradual phasing out of conventional plastics through a fiscal regime favouring the use of biodegradable plastic bags...
A few weeks ago people were talking of a possible Green Revolution. Talk has also recently shifted to the development of an alternative energy economy. The American President-Elect actually spoke of his ‘green recovery’ plans, by linking them to a $150bn ‘Apollo Project’ to bring jobs and energy security to the US through such a roadmap...
The consultancy firm which conducted a study for the Seabank Hotel four years ago on the relocation of the road at Ghadira, to another one passing behind the BirdLife nature reserve, could end up conducting the new study for government’s own proposed relocation of the Ghadira road...
This article is being written in the wake of a budget that has turned out to be far less green than one would have expected or been led to believe...
No, this is not a misprint. It is just my way of paying homage to George Orwell revisited – had he chosen to re-enact his 1948 masterpiece which had been published under the title of 1984. For which read 2080 instead of 2008! I made this clarification for another purpose, because some readers might have easily thought that I would be writing about certain GHG (greenhouse gasses emissions) targets for the future!...
A new era does not happen overnight or by coincidence. It only comes about when changes take place that show that the ground is beginning to move in a way that can be felt by one and all, including those who have lived in a cocoon for years on end in a state of denial...
The Labour Party is calling on the government to abandon plans for a road linking Mellieha and Cirkewwa which passes right through a Natura 2000 site that is protected by the EU’s Habitats and Birds directives, and which includes sections of the much publicised Foresta 2000 afforestation project including the protected garigue area...
The reported comments in another section of the local media that Nationalist Party senior officials on the administrative council have defended the PN secretary general’s request for sensitive information from government ministers, by justifying it as a way to “increase efficiency” and “customer care” is as convincing as the account of a dirty old man who travels all the way to a Bangkok massage parlour to make sure that someone sees to his chronic back pain!...
There are very few authors whose books I would dare buy or read without first having read a number of book reviews about them. But apart from economist Joseph E. Stiglitz and Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk, Thomas L. Friedman definitely ranks among these selected few...
The other week was quite a hectic week. And this week should be too. Particularly with an intervention lined up in the House tomorrow on the Prime Minister’s Estimates...
Thursday 5 November was a busier day for me than usual. Apart from business meetings I had to attend, a visiting cousin from abroad to willingly entertain to tea, an intensive but very positive national executive meeting to participate in, and a live radio discussion programme while still nursing an attack of laryngitis, I gave up my usual early morning walk to attend the by now traditional US Presidential Election Breakfast that the US Embassy regularly puts on every time the presidential elections fall due. At 5.30am...
When this article appears in print the American people will be deciding their own destiny and that of the world in general – beyond their own continent...
The pre-budget consultation document did not leave much to the imagination. It made it clear that we are to expect a ‘green budget’ that should make amends for the government’s sins of commission and omission regarding the environment....
The gatekeeping by Austin Gatt’s media friends was not enough to cover the fact that the government is simply sitting on a time bomb over the MITTS scandal...
The expression “A commitment to commit” is not mine. It was recently made by Lord Stern of Brentford when he made two important statements: that the financial crisis should promote clean energy and that global financial turmoil must not block the creation of a low-carbon economy...
It is no mean feat to prepare a well-researched document on Green jobs as part of the roadmap towards decent work in a sustainable, low-carbon world....
I recently addressed an international youth seminar on Darfur which was addressed among others by the US Ambassador too. Allow me to share some of the thoughts expressed on that occasion...
Tomorrow Joseph Muscat will be sworn in as an MP and also as Opposition Leader. Although he never ran for the general elections in Malta, he has behind him the backing of 36,958 Maltese and Gozitan voters who gave him their first preference when he ran on the MLP ticket as an MEP candidate in 2004...
We have been arguing all along that since Joseph Muscat took over at the helm of the Labour Party the democratic left and progressive forces on the island have been reinventing themselves...
There are 101 ways how to engage in the climate change debate but those who have scored most internationally are those who regularly keep their arguments simple without becoming over simplistic. But even this can prove to be a double-edged knife. Because this tactic is used both by strong supporters of climate change-related issues and by those who try to rubbish them....
This article has nothing to do with the US 6th Fleet. But it has much to do with the feeling of disappointment, disillusion and even sense of betrayal which most people in the environmental field that I have met are feeling about this government as far as the environment is concerned...
The Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA) policy’s of relaxing building heights to encouraging more penthouses is discouraging the use of solar energy because it denies access to rooftops to residents in apartment blocks...
Now that we have started thinking the unthinkable, with the price of fuel being what it is, many have been asking the $64,000 dollar question (regardless of what the value of the dollar might be!) as to whether the hike in fuel prices has impacted or not on our driving habits...
This country has long had a political death-wish while often doing its best to master the art of political hara kiri. But we simply cannot go on burying our heads in the sand as far as the environment is concerned...
Some people think that the term "state of denial" applies solely to how the Bush administration avoided telling the truth about Iraq to the public, to Congress and often to itself...
The only way that the MLP can prove its green credentials is by convincing one and all that we mean business. There should be no room for half measures or wishy-washy solutions...
One might ask what do these three important issues have in common? I was recently researching the whole concept of good governance and corruption in preparation for a speech that I made in the House of Representatives on the Public Administration Bill before we went into summer recess...
One of the questions I raised was how can one take the government’s commitment in favour of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority reform seriously when the government appointed board members, at one stage included a member of the PM’s private secretariat, who had in the past voted in favour of projects of irreparable environmental damage....
I must confess that I first got hooked to the climate change issue when I was still shadowing Foreign Affairs. I was particularly struck by its political dimension and had publicly supported the British decision to try and raise it at UN Security Council level. I recall that I had gone one step further by suggesting that this issue should also be raised at UN General Assembly level since most of the countries - mainly LDCs - worst affected by it were not represented on the Security Council but were instead General Assembly members....
During one of my visits to the USA I was told that the Americans love to have somebody to hate. At that stage I had interpreted that perception within the context of leaders with whom they have often crossed swords, from Qaddafi to Saddam Hussein up to the current Iranian President...
In Malta we have more than our fair share of real politik and politics of deceit. Even when government might be “right” on a particular issue it has a habit of going about things in a covert manner...
Ftit qabel ma niltaqa’ ma’ Leo Brincat insir naf li xtara karozza ġdida li taħdem bil-batterija u bil-petrol, teknoloġija magħrufa bħala hybrid u li tgħin biex jitnaqqsu l-gassijiet li jagħmlu ħsara lill-atmosfera...
In Malta we have more than our fair share of real politik and politics of deceit. Even when government might be “right” on a particular issue it has a habit of going about things in a covert manner...
I tend to watch TV much more when on an exercise machine or else while relaxing in a hotel abroad than at home where I tend to opt for using my time more productively. Even if it means catching up with my reading or writing. I was nevertheless amazed to notice recently that watching CNN has almost become synonymous with tuning in to a Green channel....
The other week we came to learn from a sister publication of The Malta Independent that international consultants Lahmeyer International have submitted a preliminary report to the government on their findings after being commissioned to review the alternative energy options....
This article has nothing at all to do with the issue as to whether the shipyards should be privatised or not. Neither does it go into the merits or demerits of the government claim that if the shipyard’s privatisation did not go ahead, the government would no longer be able to subsidise the shipyard....
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