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No. 0626

SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON LAWRENCE GONZI, AT THE INAUGURATION OF THE NEW OFFICES OF REMPEC (REGIONAL MARINE POLLUTION EMERGENCY RESPONSE CENTRE FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA) AT THE MARITIME HOUSE, LASCARIS WHARF, VALLETTA - FRIDAY, 2 MAY 2008

Today I am carrying out one of the first symbolic actions on behalf of the new Government of Malta, even before the official opening of the new legislature by the President, when he delivers the address to Parliament in which he outlines the programme for the coming years.  I am happy that at this ceremony it is my privilege to declare open the new offices of REMPEC.

The main thrust of the Government’s action in the next years will be Sustainable Development. Over the past years Malta has been able to achieve the very ambitious aims which it set itself especially in the economic field.  In spite of some dark clouds that are looming over the world’s economic horizons, there are still other ambitious aims such as achieving a budget surplus that we still have ahead of us.  However while pursuing these goals along lines that have already been well set, our attention will be more closely focussed than ever before on the environmental dimension of balanced growth.

This enhanced attention to the environment would plainly be frustrated if it were restricted to just our territory on land and did not comprehend our even more extensive territory at sea.  Even more, it would be self contradictory if environmental concern failed to take account of the universal dimension of ecology.  We live on just one small planet.  Because of this realization it was the Government of Malta that proposed the new Law of the Sea at the United Nations which resulted in the first enactment of International Legislation about the environment.  For the very same reason we, also in due time, raised the issue of Climate Change.  However, it is also logical that we should be even more concerned about the sea area around our islands, for instance about the effects that Climate Change might have on our attractiveness for tourism.

Nevertheless, the most dire threat to us would be that against which REMPEC was constituted to guard.  A polluted Mediterranean Sea would be as deadly a recipe for Malta’s prosperity as a sea that was too warm for both fish and human beings.

REMPEC has done invaluable work in warding off pollution from both land-based and ship-based sources, as well as in helping the coastal countries to equip themselves to deal with a threat of pollution in every way, from monitoring to actually combating its occurrence.

Yet thousands of vessels, especially a large proportion of them made up of tankers, ply their way every day in the channel between Malta and Sicily.  The congestion has been noted as a serious concern in the policy document that has been prepared by the Commission, as the basis for a comprehensive and integrated Marine Policy for the European Union.  The dangers of collisions or other mishaps that could result in oil spills of a magnitude that would be catastrophic are appalling.  This is a major reason why Malta looks forward with great eagerness to the adoption of the urgently needed Marine Policy by the European Union.

However, clearly for that policy to be efficient it would have to earn the collaboration of the non-European states bordering the Mediterranean.  Consequently, Malta has been not only a prime promoter of the European Union declared Policy of developing new forms of collaboration with the neighbouring states of the Union and in particular those around the Mediterranean.  We have also taken the initiative or rallied wholeheartedly in support of all projects that aim at consolidating peaceful relations and sustainable development in our region.  Among such initiatives, I think that the Mediterranean Regional Plan for Sustainable Development deserves particular praise, although it is yet to be adopted and implemented effectively.

I am happy that REMPEC operates under the aegis of the international maritime organisation and it is of course, within the framework of that organisation that the remedies to the main problems to which I have alluded can be sought and found.  Sometimes Malta has been accused or suspected of failures with regard to the Marine Environment but whatever failures may have occurred I can vouch that guilt could not be laid at the door of the Government of Malta and yet our intention is to continue intensifying our alertness and rigour in this regard.

Among the signs of our excellent collaboration with the International Maritime Organisation are such institutions as the International Maritime Law Institute housed at the University of Malta and most happily REMPEC itself.

I hope that the new premises of REMPEC will signal the beginning of a brilliant new phase in an already proud history.  It is located at the Valletta Waterfront part of which has already been magnificently renewed to become a thriving cultural and conventual centre, testifying once more to the almost amphibious nature of the Maltese.  There are other great projects in the making for a Renaissance on all the sides and in all the aspects of the life of our Grand Harbour and its multiple urban setting.  The siting of the offices of REMPEC at the very hub of this area is an apt expression of our affection for what it is and of our appreciation for what it has done and intends to do.

DOI - 02.05.2008

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