Ta' Cenc - a flustered developer

Abstract

I have no predilection for local TV programmes, such as Xarabank, but I must concede that I enjoyed last Tuesday's Bondiplus, which treated viewers to a flustered Victor Borg (owner of the Ta' Cenc site) being grilled by Lou Bondì. Flustered is quite a euphemism since Mr Borg repeatedly stammered while facing a fusillade of questions, effectively dribbling them. The fact that he is not conversant with rambling is evident when he claims that he intends to bring 'walkers' to Malta. Yet another grey area is the justification for the proposed villas and bungalows - being a rambler myself, I never opt for such opulent quarters to rest after a walk. Ramblers are after nature, not plush couches. Hence, Mr Borg must be targeting another category of clients for the villas, rather than ramblers. Mr Borg took Mr Bondì to task for not interviewing, for example, at least some of his employees to get their views on the Ta' Cenc project - he will probably have presumed that the process for selecting interviewees would not have been overtly biased or prejudiced that way! I had to contain myself when listening to Joe Muscat, spokesman for the Gozo Tourism Association, say that his association is in favour of all quality tourism developments on the island - "if it's tourist-related, then you have our blessing, irrespective of the footprint, impact, etc." These people are oblivious to the environmental impacts of tourist projects - bolstering the number of hotel beds in Gozo is their sole preoccupation, it seems.