At long last!

Minister George Pullicino's announcement that Government was planning measures to stamp out abuses in land use and lubricate the enforcement process, especially within the ambit of the outside development zones (ODZ), must have delighted environmentalists.

Specific reference was made by Minister Pullicino about hunters' hides, but one augurs that some clout will also be used against the plush dwellings which are continuously sprouting in ODZs and which should be demolished, rather than simply 'cordoned off'.

In addition, one hopes that ODZ cases which have been pending direct action for years on end (e.g. since 1992 and even before), of which there is a well-populated list, including discos, batching plants, etc, are finally addressed. After all, most ODZ illegalities end up being sanctioned by MEPA, a self-defeating process, to say the least.

Quoting from MEPA's October statistics, 34 enforcement cases were closed, 33 in Malta and one in Gozo. Of these, 25 were sanctioned by the issue of a sanctionable permit. Another nine cases were resolved since owners decided to remove illegal development following enforcement action. Hence, some of the possible solutions could be:

The tightening of the loopholes currently available to developers, namely sanctioning and the appeals stage. We read that a separate appeals board will be enacted to address ODZ illegalities and that the process will be made much fatser - this is welcome news but one augurs that such an appeals board is not composed solely of architects and that it does not distinguish itself by the number of decisions it overturns.

Secondly, ODZ applications should be, of their very nature, unacceptable, allowing some leeway only for reasonable developments, such as extensions to farm buildings, nature reserves, recreational/sports areas, etc (as already pointed out to David Pace, president of the Chamber of Architects). Three per cent of all granted permits refer to ODZ sites - this figure is too high!

Thirdly, the past credentials of developers should be used as a decision-making criterion. For example, if a particular developer has already had close shaves with planning legislation because he built illegally in an ODZ site, he/she should be blacklisted for future applications. This apparently knee-jerk reaction is in response to the fact that in this country it's usually the same old faces who are in the planning limelight, and all for the wrong reasons.

The crescendo leading to direct action should be watered down, so that enforcement can move in and demolish illegal buildings at an early stage - i.e. when they are in the fledgling stage and have just been reported by the public to avoid spiralling costs later on. This is especially relevant for 'public land', where the Commissioner for Lands is often pursued by MEPA to recoup part of its costs in case the culprit is not identified.

The service offered by MEPA to the public for the reporting of illegal structures/buildings should be expanded, especially during weekends. This should be complemented with a beefing up of enforcement manpower

Legislating bodies should be made to appreciate the daunting task being faced and induced to mete out heftier fines to culprits.

The exorbitant sum of money involved for direct action (said to be around Lm250 an hour) is often floated to justify the apparent lack of demolition of illegal structures. While one appreciates the significance of such a figure, enforcement can make up for this by investing more effort to identify the culprit who can then be made to foot the bill - visiting the site during odd hours (e.g. in evenings or very early in the morning) and during the weekend will do the trick.

Minister Pullicino has certainly raised the barometer of expectation in the country's enforcement sections - one augurs that he will emerge from the quagmire he has placed himself in with flying colours.

Rambling...cause for hope?

Ramblers were given some rare licence to feel happy last week when Mr Pullicino said: '"I believe that our country needs to reclaim walkways on the land. We already have a problem because there is not much space on this island, and we have to have access to what there is".

Parole sante indeed, but this will surely be a tough nut to crack, especially since MEPA has to liaise with other entities to enforce the law, namely the somnolent and languid Lands Department, which is oblivious to all forms of all calls to reveal the ownership of large tracts of land.

Shameful ODZ mill

During four weeks in October-November Nature Trust (Malta) objected to a total of 15 ODZ applications, as specified below. This number does not include the total number of ODZ applications submitted during this period - hence, a veritable deluge which can only be stemmed by precluding residential ODZ applications, for example.

On November 12 there were five ODZ applications; on November 5 five, on October 29 three, on October 15 two.

A regular feature of the weekly ODZ list is the inclusion of Gharb, Ghasri, Qala or other Gozitan villages as the target of bungalows or other dwellings with pools. Cases in point are 06418/05 (referring to the proposed construction of a dwelling with garage in Ta' Ghammar, Gharb) and 06633/05 (referring to a site in Triq Frangisk Portelli, Gharb).

No lessons seem to have been learned from the Busietta Gardens brouhaha some years back since an application has been filed for the construction of luxury retirement units in an ODZ site of Wied id-Dis (along Triq San Gwann Evangelista) - 01252/96. This application has been refused already once by MEPA, but thanks to local developers' persistence, an appeal has been duly lodged and is due to be heard next December.

An even more galling application is 05068/05, referring to the construction of a dwelling with pool and underlying garage, cheek by jowl with the Victoria Lines along the same valley. One hopes that the latter objection is taken into account by MEPA, despite not having made it on time due to the deluge of ODZ applications.

Gozo airstrip again

The Gozo airstrip is one of those skeletons in the cupboard which simply refuse to go away. You get the occasional proponent throwing his hat in the ring (such as George Gauci on November 9, promptly answered by Roderick Abela) which is sort of run-of-the-mill.

However, eyebrows are raised when you get a political heavyweight, like Labout MP Anton Refalo pandering to the tourism and development lobbies in clamouring for the Xewkija airstrip. Dr Refalo is not renowned for his green credentials but luckily his stance is at odds with that of the rest of the MLP on the matter, which should hopefully prevail.

Bullying at Mosta

An ODZ site in Mosta (close to San Silvestru Chapel and behind Cumbo Tower) has been marred for the last few years with the construction of an improvised bus garage, whose wall has been demolished and promptly re-erected.

An application has been duly submitted for the development of such a garage - 6556/04 - which was rebutted for the umpteenth time on November 12. Will decisive enforcement action be adopted on site to rectify the situation despite the heavy-handed antics of the culprit?

Tinkering with MEPA on the cards?

The Labour Party, in its paper on its environmental policies, is proposing that Government be granted 'special' power to overturn MEPA's decisions if the need arises - this is a rather worrying flashback to the ministerial fiat of the 1970s and 1980s when a simple strokes of the pen gave the green light to some of the most harrowing environmental experiences in the country. No units should fall under 'direct ministerial' responsibility and MEPA's autonomy should be safeguarded at all costs.

In the same vein, Labour MP Joe Brincat rightly called for EIA consultants to be appointed by MEPA itself, rather than by the developer (even though this is no definite panacea) and for MEPA to draw the limelight more on environmental issues, rather than on planning issues only. In addition, Labour MP Roderick Galdes rightly raps the government's knuckles for its choice of the Xaghra l-Hamra golf course site. Hence, conflicting environmental signals are coming out of the MLP, which should weed out the preposterous ones and water the sound ones.

Some updates

Wied Ghollieqa dam - In the murky conundrum that is Maltese planning, it now appears that the Works Division had applied to MEPA for a permit to install pipes in the middle of the dam some months ago and are still awaiting MEPA permit.

This stinks of an analogy to the Salina works, where works within an SAC actually started before permits were in hand. Fortunately, works have been grounded for the time being, despite a number of trees having been lost due to the roughshod, unilateral action taken on site.

Silver linings

WasteServ employs job seekers - WasteServ has started to implement a €200,000 project whereby 20 job seekers have been trained to raise awareness among householders about waste minimisation, separation and recycling. The two-year European Social Fund project is targeting 20,000 homes in various localities all over Malta, Educational ecology pack to be distributed to primary schools - An educational pack on the ecology of the Mediterranean Sea, aimed at creating awareness about the natural treasures which lie in the sea surrounding the islands, is in the making and will eventually be distributed to primary school students, possibly even those of other Mediterranean countries. This was announced by Minister Pullicino during the launch of the draft management strategy for the proposed MPA at Rdum Majjiesa.

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adeid01@um.edu.mt