Why Mepa doesn't work

Joe Falzon's recent interview on the workings and shortcomings of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority make for interesting reading and food for thought.

Why are we so shocked by these revelations? Does anyone really believe that the government is not directly meddling in any and all of its agencies' affairs? Do we really believe that our civil service runs the country?

An example of this interference, or "keeping a dog and barking yourself", is the apparent complete disregard by the government of the Structure Plan so carefully drawn up by the authority and submitted for its blessing. Who, reading this, honestly believes that this government chooses professional planning policy over votes lost or won? Given the hue and cry before and after each election campaign, not many politicians do, I am sure.

One just has to look at the total amount of government land included in the "new" proposed scheme. All of it currently completely ODZ (Outside Development Zone) and all of it included with no environmental or historical consideration. Why, you may wonder?

Simply to produce extra revenue from its sale and in all probability these funds used to further reduce the national deficit in line with EU obligations. Talk about preferential treatment, or even selling the family silver; this land belongs to us, not the government of any given day.

That said, I suppose at least it has been done with transparency or am I getting confused with the usual arrogance we constantly see from Ministers in this government?

We all know about the current situation regarding enforcement issues and it is very obvious that the government does not really want to confront the problem. Why? Because it's a small island, people know politicians and have easy access to their offices. I could go further and suggest that any large contractor with thousands of employees under their influence could in fact push for a block vote and therefore make or break any given political party in the event of a general election, much in the same manner as certain trade unions threaten to do every five years.

If Mepa is given the right resources and asked to formulate a plan of action to address the illegal development situation over a three-year period, I am sure we will see results - but only on condition that the plan is compiled by the properly authorised department personnel within the agency, together with the audit officer's input/approval and no one else's, before being made official and public.

Is the Minister really committed to making Mepa work or could taking action be another vote loser? Let's face it, until this country is governed by folk accepting that they will only be re-elected on merit rather than by buying votes for not offending, no agency or government body can possibly operate correctly.

I don't believe that anyone could say that Mepa is picture perfect; it is, however, in truth, probably as perfect as it is allowed to be, given the political climate prevailing on any given day.