Mepa refuses to release repeat offenders' list

The Malta Environment and Planning Authority is refusing to release a list with the names of contractors that persistently flout development laws.

Earlier this year, the authority said it would be commissioning a report which would examine all the pending cases of the so-called "persistent contravenors" - a term used at Mepa to refer to major contractors with whom it has problems.

The list would make public the names of the biggest flaunters of development legislation as well as the way Mepa is dealing with them.

When asked for the list, Mepa said the information it contained was of an administrative and "confidential nature" and added that "all enforcement notices are site specific. What is in the public domain is published on the website."

The online service, however, does not provide a search facility of applicant names, nor does it mention the number of enforcement notices issued against a single contractor.

When pressed, the authority did not even say whether the list had actually been compiled at all or why it considered the information confidential given that the raw data was published on line.

This reporter has filed a complaint with the local representative for the Aarhus Convention - legislation transposed to Maltese law which gives access to environmental information.

The local representative, Godwin Cassar, who is also Mepa's director general, upheld the authority's position and justified it by saying:

"We have duly compiled a list, but we cannot disclose this information firstly because it goes against the Data Protection Act, secondly the identity of the offender has no bearing on the issue of disclosure of environmental information and thirdly because the person named in the enforcement notice may not necessarily be the offender since actions can be taken against the owner or occupier of a site."

A request to investigate the matter has now been lodged with the authority's audit officer.