Praedial

Concerns praedial - relating, that is, to land and farming - have gotten a big knock these past few weeks. The Gonzi administration decided to revisit a decision the Nationalist government took in 1988, laying out which land could be developed for building and which not. The Cabinet redrew the boundaries within which building development is to occur. In one fell swoop, they transformed farm and other land which had been off limits to property speculation into zones that will become available for new building, over an area as big as the village of Siggiewi. With the PN double-speak that increasingly underpins most government statements, especially when they manifestly contradict what people had been led to believe was the right approach, this massive change to land use plans was labelled a "rationalisation" by the Prime Minister and his henchmen.

Mepa, the environmental and planning authority which supposedly has delegated powers to make such decisions under stringent procedures, was totally bypassed by the move. The Cabinet's decision in fact conflicts with the assertions Mepa has been making for at least 10 years, that the land already available for further building under existing schemes should be more than enough to satisfy prospected demand covering the next two decades or so.

The hypocrisy underlying the Gonzi administration's decision is spectacular. Only some weeks back, I was strongly attacked by the PN's propaganda machine for having stated that some urgent national projects would need to be taken out of Mepa's purview and handled directly by the government in order to speed economic recovery. I never had in mind an extension of building permits of the sort or on the scale that is now being contemplated.

Who then will benefit from the opening up of more farmland for building purposes? This will take some time to unravel fully. Since the Cabinet has decided which plots to include in schemes for new building, the beneficiaries of their decision to extend building schemes all over the islands of Malta and Gozo cannot be identified from the papers sent to Mepa by the government to inform the authority of its decision and published shortly afterwards. Because of the nature of the decision, it is as if all the land concerned belongs to the government. How about that for transparency?

Actually, the Gonzi administration was stampeded into publicly declaring its "policy" U-turn, when news about it first appeared in the English language, non-"independent" media. The usual process was pre-empted by which, when launching some relatively complex or controversial decision, the Gonzi administration first soaps up the public through assorted leaks and planted pieces from favourite reporters in the "independent" media.

However, this being Malta, it is not feasible to suppress information about which land belongs to who for long. Already details are emerging about the plots here and there which will now be cleared for building development. They confirm that a can of worms has been opened. Speculators, top business barons close to the regime, PN insiders will all be making a good killing, to put it mildly. I have been told by people in the know that plots which would now sell for Lm60,000 or less, could see their value converted overnight to three quarters of a million liri, if not more. When you extend such calculations to an area as big as Siggiewi, the payback for people close to the heart of the Gonzi administration will be huge. Yet, I have been assured by experts who care about the issues of truly rational land use and of housing development that, from the national point of view, any amendments to the prevailing schemes for building development should have been marginal in scope.

Why is the decision being taken at this particular point in time? Because it was promised in the PN election manifesto for 1998. So we were told. Even those who push this reply clearly feel embarrassed by it. After all, in 1998, the PN also promised to give legal recognition to cohabitation...

The real reason is that in the run up to the next general election, Dr Gonzi and his ministers will be pulling all the stops to "buy" votes. They reckon that by opening up new land for building development and for associated speculation, they will have added leeway to sweeten some of their supporters who have drifted away. In the meantime, if other insiders make a killing, that will only be for the better since it will strengthen their resolve to back the PN in any way they can. Plus - and you will soon see this claim being advanced as the great big reason for the "new" "rationalised" policy - the point that releasing so much land for development will help keep property prices down, thereby making housing more affordable for young couples. Believe this and you will believe anything, even The Da Vinci Code.

The whole proposal stinks. Political opportunism has gone wild, trampling over environmental considerations and the need to safeguard against corruption and rampant conflicts of interest, as well as over the need to ensure that proper safeguards are maintained to ensure transparency and accountability in decisions that inevitably will have a tremendous impact on our future.