DCC board members and Mgiebah

"Carobs and the DCC" by Alan Deidun (The Sunday Times, July 4) is a follow-up to the article by Anne Zammit on June 20 in which she had called into question the integrity and accountability of the DCC board.

Mr Deidun once again levels unfounded accusations against architects serving on the various boards and committees within the Authority. He alleges that these board members "form part of that cohort (architects) who are responsible for applying for planning permission on behalf of their clients and at the same time being part of boards and commissions that decide on planning cases." and also calls on MEPA to "weed out such conflicts of interest at source".

There are two points that we wish to make. Firstly, long before Mr Deidun ever managed to conjure up ideas of how best MEPA could 'bolster its public image', the Authority had implemented the government's code of ethics for its employees and members serving on its boards and committees. Any member who has a vested interest in any of the applications that are submitted to the board for a decision, is obliged to make this known to the other board members and shall not participate in the deliberation of that application.

Secondly, you cannot possibly have boards and committees deciding upon planning applications without the provision of the necessary expertise. The Development Planning Act also provides for a rotation system due to a maximum term of office tied to these positions. In themselves these provisions are safeguards that ensure a high level of integrity and professionalism within these decision-making boards.

I also refer to Mr Deidun's piece, "Mgiebah development and obsolete MEPA". I believe it is unethical that after having replied to his query on July 1, we get branded in this way when the facts show otherwise.

This article misleads and misinforms your readers solely to give 'the green whistle-blower' something to write about. The details of the case are the following and I will leave it to the judgment of your readers whether, as Mr Deidun claims, "MEPA did not bat an eyelid".

On June 14 we received a complaint from Mr Raymond Sammut about works being carried out in the Mgiebah area. This complaint got registered as CM1379/04 and was passed on to the Planning Enforcement Office of the area.

Our enforcement officers started an investigation and carried out site inspections. During this period MEPA received another report from Nature Trust. On June 28 an Enforcement Notice (ECF 493/04) was issued and fixed on site. The notice covers the construction of an illegal room and material deposited on garigue to form a track.

Although the enforcement notice has been issued against the Commissioner of Lands and against the unknown occupier we are investigating Mr Sammut's claims that the land is privately owned.

The legal provisions give the landowner 16 days to submit an application for the infringement, appeal against the Enforcement Notification or return the site to its original state. Should this timeframe elapse this case will be added to the Direct Action case list.

Mr Deidun's report of July 4, claiming that MEPA has a "laissez-faire attitude when it comes to nipping illegal development in the bud" once again leaves your readers misinformed about our actions.