Another referendum should be the last resort. The first resort at the moment is that the Government considers its own studies and the scientific evidence it has which show that there are enough reasons not to open a spring hunting season.
This is precisely what was stated by BirdLife Malta CEO Mark Sultana in an RTK interview last Saturday morning on the first day of the spring hunting season. Nothing more, nothing less.
During the interview on RTK’s ‘Newsbook’, BirdLife Malta’s CEO did not mince his words when he mentioned the possibility of another referendum. When asked whether BirdLife Malta would consider another referendum, Mark Sultana replied in a very clear manner that whilst in a democracy having a referendum will always remain a possibility, at the moment this should be the last resort. BirdLife Malta’s opinion right now is that any Maltese government – today and in the future – has enough scientific studies and solid reasons which justify the closure of the spring hunting season.
BirdLife Malta insists that in today’s circumstances now that the Turtle Dove cannot be hunted anymore in spring, the hunting of Quail cannot be justified with the argument that there isn’t a sufficient passage of Quail during the autumn. This is due to the fact that study after study, carried out year after year, commissioned and paid for by the Government itself show that there is a sufficient passage of Quail during autumn which proves one cannot justify hunting for this species also in spring.
BirdLife Malta continues to urge the Government to understand its responsibility to take environmental decisions which are not dictated by political promises but ones which are based on scientific facts, as after all happened in the case of hunting for Turtle Dove during spring.
Read the Maltese version of the press release here.
Here is the ad verbatim text of the section of the RTK interview with Mark Sultana where the referendum was mentioned (it is being left in Maltese since the interview was carried out in Maltese):
- Presenter: “Wara r-referendum tal-kaċċa li kellna ftit tas-snin ilu, BirdLife Malta qiegħda taħseb li tagħmel xi ħaġa simili fix-xhur jew is-snin li ġejjin? Jew qatgħet qalbha?”
- Mark Sultana: “Il-kaċċa fir-rebbiegħa…għednieha fil-passat u nerġgħu ngħiduha…għandha expiry date. Il-problema hi li ma nistax ngħidlek meta hi d-data għax jiddependi minn ħafna affarijiet. Kif għedna għal snin twal, il-kaċċa fuq il-Gamiema ma kinitx qed tagħmel sens għax l-għasfur kien qed jonqos, sena wara sena, b’ammonti kbar fl-Ewropa u f’Malta. Morna għal referendum imma minkejja li l-vot m’għaddiex finalment illum xorta m’hemmx kaċċa tal-Gamiema għax il-Gvern kien kostrett iwaqqafha. Ix-xjenza ma jista’ jmeriha ħadd. U aħna nibqgħu ninsistu li the last resort għandu jkun referendum ieħor. The first resort għandu jkun li l-Gvern iħares lejn l-istatistika u jinduna li għandu dover li mhux jaġevola lil min jivvutalu imma li jagħmel l-affarijiet li suppost.”
- Presenter: “Imma hemm xi ħaġa fil-pipeline, anke meta tqis li s-sena d-dieħla se jkun hemm l-elezzjonijiet? BirdLife Malta se tkun qed tressaq xi tip ta’ proposti għal xi referendum jew biex forsi jkun inkluż fil-programmi elettorali tal-partiti politiċi?”
- Mark Sultana: “L-idea li jkun hemm referendum fl-elezzjoni qiegħda fuq il-mejda, naturalment irid ikollok ir-riżorsi biex tagħmilha imma aħna nħossu li f’dan l-istadju fejn issa l-Gvern diġà ħa deċiżjoni li ma jiftaħx staġun tal-Gamiema, wasal iż-żmien li nibqgħu npoġġu madwar il-mejda biex insibu soluzzjonijiet għax fl-aħħar mill-aħħar bħalma ġara fil-każ tal-Gamiema hekk ukoll se jiġri fil-każ tas-Summiena”.
Click here to listen to the full interview (the part about the referendum can be found at 1:35 from the end).