Divers and salt farmers in access-to-coast row ahead of key season

Scuba divers and salt farmers are at loggerheads over the right to access parts of Gozo’s north coast ahead of a key season for both industries that are crucial to the island’s economy.
Divers, who make up more than a fifth of all tourists to Gozo each year, say they are being blocked from safely reaching key dive sites because private landowners are not allowing them access to the coast.
The salt farmers, who own some of the contested lands, claim the divers are contaminating a sensitive food production area by walking over salt pans and should find another route.

And as the row hits rough waters, with both sides accusing each other of intimidation and harassment, the government claims it is unable to intervene in a private issue.
Mark Busuttil, a dive shop owner and the vice president of the Professional Diving School Association, said the landowners are making it difficult for them to access some of the top diving sites on the island.
There are issues around access to Double Arch, an area known for abundant marine life; Reqqa Point; Billinghurst Cave; Għar il-Qamħ and Cathedral Cave, an underwater cavern that is lit by sunlight in the afternoons.
Josephine Xuereb (left) is a...