Golf course should stand alone - Labour

Labour leader Alfred Sant yesterday said MEPA should only be responsible for the day-to-day processing of "normal" planning applications while the government should take the strategic planning decisions.

Presenting a 47-page discussion paper on the Labour Party's environmental policy, Dr Sant highlighted the need for MEPA to be restructured, saying it often served as a smokescreen for the government which, he said, "hides behind MEPA when it is faced with controversial environmental issues on one hand, and takes the credit for MEPA's work on the other".

Labour is suggesting that "any policies on planning should be laid out by a unit of experts accountable to the government".

At the same time, the government should be vested with the power to review any MEPA decision which went against government policies, the paper remarked.

Asked whether he thought this policy would compromise MEPA's autonomy, Dr Sant said the government was still manipulating the authority while precious time was being lost.

"Projects are stalled in the corridors of bureaucracy because the Environment Minister, for example, disagrees with a decision by MEPA, which is supposed to be independent.

"It would be much more efficient to appoint a board, which works on a technocratic level to see that government decisions do not take years to materialise," Dr Sant said.

The discussion document also deals with the need to link environmental policy to social and economic policies, and environmental education.

"The paper contains 22 sections that deal with a number of issues, including land use, the sea, water, air, animal rights, national heritage and Gozo," Dr Sant explained.

Among other themes, the document mentions the need for golf courses and of a waste management strategy. It states that a golf course should not be built on agricultural land, emphasising that the country did not need more than two courses - one in Malta and another in Gozo.

"We emphasise the need for a golf course that stands alone and which does not serve as an excuse for more building and speculation as the one being proposed by the government does," Dr Sant said.

On waste management, the document states there should not be one recycling plant but several regional plants.

Written by Joe Brincat and Roderick Galdesm, the document links quality of life to better management of natural resources and considers local councils and environmental NGOs as key players in this policy.

The document will be presented to NGOs soon and will also be discussed within the party. The Labour Party general conference will approve a final draft next January.