FAA calls for MEPA board's resignation

Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar (FAA) has urged the Minister of the Environment and the Prime Minister to call an immediate inquiry into the Ramla l-Hamra permit development. The organisation also called for the permit issued to be annulled since it was obtained with misleading information and called for the resignation of the MEPA chairman and board members.

In a statement FAA yesterday expressed concern that the Ramla l-Hamra developers' so-called in-depth archaeological study on which MEPA based both its waiver of an EIA for the Ramla l-Hamra villas project as well as its decision to approve the permit, turned out to be nothing more than a general preliminary cultural heritage report. FAA said the outline permit was granted on the grounds that the new project will occupy the same footprint as the old structures, when in fact it is over twice as large.

The rationalisation schemes were supposed to prevent any more development in Out of Development Zones. The site is of high landscape value, and an ecologically and archaeologically sensitive area bordering a Natura 2000 site.

FAA said it has long maintained that MEPA was far too ready to accept unquestioningly developers' information on major projects, and this casts doubts on other permits which have been approved on the strength of information supplied by developers.

Similarly, it added, the letter sent by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage calling for an EIA was not read out until Astrid Vella representing FAA and Xaghra council drew attention to the existence of this letter, which calls for an EIA to be commissioned before the decision on the permit was taken.

In spite of these very serious discrepancies being pointed out to the MEPA board members before the vote was taken, only Joseph Brincat voted against the project.