Maaaaaaa, how good! Astrid saved some trees (shame she probably voted for land reclamation and better conditions for hunters, then, unless she voted AD or PN)

Published: August 23, 2013 at 2:22pm

Just look at this. She makes it sound as though she called the Minister of Education and had her call taken immediately or whisked right up the chain of command so that her demands could be met.

Out there in Facebook Land, few people will know that she rang Varist, member of her social circle and husband of her good friend Gillian, both of whom she’s been hanging around with for aeons.

E. Bartolo, Minister for Education, and the Environment.




23 Comments Comment

  1. Critical says:

    While the PM has demanded NO explanations for the many gaffes we witness everyday, such as a post on FB by one of PL’s former councilors expressing a wish that Cecilia Malmstrom is kidnapped, Varist is busy demanding an explanation for excessive tree pruning …

  2. Helen says:

    Mela, mhux hekk. Ara is-sigar insalvawhom, imma l-imigranti, le, dawk nibghatuhom lura jew inhalluhom f’nofs ta’ bahar.

  3. fenek says:

    Miskina ferhana ghax sema minnha.

  4. Mark says:

    “He immediately ordered the destruction of trees to stop and has demanded an explanation.”

    Typical socialist triumphalism.

  5. Antoine Vella says:

    Actually nothing was saved because the trees had already been reduced to bare columns of wood.

    It did not occur to those commenting that it should have been Leo Brincat not Evarist Bartolo who “saved” the trees. That’s what he’s minister for. All that talk about protecting trees, setting up committees of advisors and holding public consultations on trees was just hot air.

    But the switchers who voted Labour will not admit how wrong they were.

  6. Gary Jameson says:

    At least something got done, but it should not have happened in the first place …

  7. jojo says:

    She should take a stand against land reclamation,and the potential building threats from the likes of Sandro Chetcuti, not fret over the trees. Isn’t that Pamela Hansen’s job?

  8. el bandido guapo says:

    Just like a yapping Chihuahua, she and her ilk bark a lot but have never actually stopped to think what it is they are barking about, whether there is any need for it.

    Are we now governed by Chihuahuas?

    Those trees when allowed to grow unchecked often attain sizes far beyond what is suitable for the location. The only bad thing is that they were planted there in the first place, they were not the right choice.

    Apart from damage by their roots, as most Ficus cause, they make the place they shade so comprehensively dull and depressing.

    The people complaining, Astrid at the forefront, really need to get off this rock a bit more, if having some urban trees downsized to a more manageable proportion raises their blood pressure.

    Perhaps in protest they should chuck all their furniture out too, guess where that came from.

  9. GiovDeMartino says:

    “Astrid you are great”….because she phoned Varist.

  10. Jozef says:

    Well, she better go down to Valley Road, they’re definitely slicing though the roots of all the ones on the right going up to Birkirkara.

    And didn’t she notice the ones chopped down by the mayor of St.Paul’s Bay? Those were uprooted to make way for a ‘car park’, no permits, just abuse.

    Still, she’ll play on. The hypocrite.

  11. blue says:

    Why hasn’t she yet surfaced with her placards in Valletta, objecting to the Embassy Complex MEPA application for an additional two floors? Is she going to write the justification to UNESCO regarding the loss of the World Heritage Site status for Valletta?

  12. Min Jaf says:

    Why the drama? That type of tree is periodically, and extensively, cut back for its own health.

    It regrows and renews itself very rapidly. Similar trees lining Marina Street in Pieta have been subjected to such extensive pruning several times over the years, since long before Astrid was born, so we are talking decades here, and all display healthy growth.

  13. Jozef says:

    http://www.maltarightnow.com/?module=news&at=Il%2Dpulizija+tarresta+persuna+b%27rabta+mal%2Disfre%26%23289%3Bju+fil%2Dbajja+ta%27+San+Blas+f%27G%26%23295%3Bawdex&t=a&aid=99850103&cid=19

    Second time in as many months, have deckchairs will flatten beach. Commissioned, up to a point of course, by the minister himself.

    And not a word from the FAA. But she doesn’t do sarcasm, just Hondoq.

    An exhausted quarry matters more than sand dunes and blue clay friability, people’s cheques see to it.

    Will no one challenge her method?

  14. pale blue my foot! says:

    Oh come on Astrid….that was really see-through. In cahoots with Varist and winning him some pats on the back….you think. I really can`t take much more of this double-faced hypocrisy anymore.

  15. kram says:

    This type of tree pruning has been going on for donkey’s years and year after year they still grow to their previous selves.

  16. curious says:

    Varist is very concerned and Carla Peralta said a very big thank you to him for paying attention.

    Yes, it is as of he solved the Syria crisis. Fhix waqajna.

  17. Selit says:

    What are you going to tell us about Falzon and the urban cores Mrs Vella? The next destruction of Malta?

    Just to give the impression to the merhla that the new government has not touched further undeveloped land? But instead destroyed the urban cores, giving the impression that we are regenerating old property. Yes, regeneration my foot. Sensible and sensitive interventions is what is required on these areas. Not mass destruction of what is left of Malta’s heritage.

  18. Pier Pless says:

    Astrid does not care about the trees, nor about the environment. All she cares about is giving the impression that she gets results.

    Unfortunately politicians allow themselves to be used to further her agenda. It is all so deceitful.

  19. Guzeppi says:

    Din qiedgha tifrah ghax cemplet tard? Mela li cemplet ‘on time’ kienet taghmel party jew?

    U fejn kienet meta 60 sigra minn Haz-Zebbug inqalaw totalment, biex twahlu arbli tad-dawl bla dwal?

  20. Joe Fenech says:

    As I wrote in The Malta Times – taking care of school trees is not the minister’s job. Doesn’t anyone get it. Even Lowell pointed this out many years ago. How nuts can this nation be?

Leave a Comment