Objectors should see Mepa board minutes - Ombudsman

The Ombudsman has recommended to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority that whenever minutes of board meetings are taken they should be given to anyone objecting to the development concerned as soon as possible.

The Ombudsman, Joseph Said Pullicino, made his recommendation following a complaint submitted by the committee against the proposed upgrading of the Marsascala waste recycling plant. The committee objected to Mepa's refusal to release minutes of a public meeting, saying it needed the minutes for the purposes of an appeal.

Mepa recently approved the application to upgrade the plant.

The Ombudsman further recommended that Mepa should draw up procedures that establish precisely how minutes are to be taken and what should be registered in them.

These regulations should clearly reaffirm the principle that the chairman can regulate and dictate what goes into the minutes and that these would form part of the documents of each case.

The Ombudsman said he had no reason to turn down the committee's request to be given the minutes. He added, however, that on the other hand, the minutes would form part of the documentation that would be seen by the Appeals Board and hence would be accessible to all parties.

The Ombudsman also said the minutes were irrelevant because Mepa's decision was taken without any reference to them and the complaint was being upheld purely to uphold the principle of transparency.