The baron in the trees - Mark Anthony Falzon

It can’t be easy being José Herrera. His job is to steward the conservation of landscapes, rural heritage, wild plants and animals, and so on, even as the government he is a member of goes about stewarding their destruction. I suppose some sympathy is in order.

Or maybe not, because Herrera’s function seems to be to greenwash the ungreenable – an interesting take on the job title of ‘Environment Minister’. Which is why last Monday found him busy rooting for land reclamation at a meeting of Parliament’s environment committee.

Now anyone with half a brain knows exactly why the government is so keen on land reclamation. First, because the country is running out of space where to dump the obscene glut of construction waste generated by an industry that knows no restraint. Second, because a new piece of land by (or on) the sea would make a lovely out-of-season gift to that industry. It does tend to reciprocate with gifts of its own.

Herrera had other ideas. He assured us that land reclamation would be the most ecological thing since the six days chronicled in the Book of Genesis. As reported, he was in no mood for rest. When a Xgħajra resident suggested that dumping waste into the...