All In The Name Of Progress? This Is How Much Sannat Has Changed In Seven Years
A shocking comparison of the quaint town of Sannat in Gozo has emerged, clearly depicting how much the town has changed since 2015.
NGO Għawdix recently uploaded the two photos on social media, showing Sannat seven years ago and Sannat in 2022.
The first photo shows a much greener Sannat, with just a few buildings adorned with trees and greenery all around.
The second photo depicts a more recent Sannat, with a massive crane and multiple apartment blocks gracing the skyline of a once quaint Gozitan village.
“Our biggest frustration with the situation in Sannat – and every other town or village – is that we receive countless complaints about current developments, but when it comes to taking civic action, the public takes a defeatist attitude which is frankly lazy,” a representative for Għawdix told Lovin Malta.
“People act shocked with each new project, but it’s all too easy to finger-point and blame individuals instead of putting pressure on the responsible authorities.”
“Despite the government’s claims that Gozo will be climate neutral within a few years, we’re facing the reality that Gozo suffers from a lack of sustainable investment opportunities – of course, people will turn to real estate if that’s the easiest way to make money!”
“And if the Planning Authority upholds severely flawed policies that override local plans and disregard any sense of aesthetics and sustainability, what else can we expect?”
The representative explained how around a year ago, Għawdix was founded, with many people telling them that it’s already too late to save Gozo.
“If you count how many projects we’ve campaigned against since then, and the blatant support the Planning Authority shows towards developers in every single case, you’d find it impossible to deny that without immediate policy change – which can ONLY come from public pressure onto the authorities – we’ll be stuck in an endless loop of depressing Facebook comments from the air-conditioned comfort of our homes and cars, while Sannat and the rest of Gozo keep being eaten alive.”
What do you make of these two images?
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