Alternattiva Demokratika has called on Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando to resign in the wake of the Mepa audit officer's report which found that an outline permit for development on his land in Mistra was illegal.

AD environment spokesman Carmel Cacopardo said the audit officer's report did not come as a surprise.

It was positive, he said, that the Prime Minister acted immediately by publishing the report and backing the recommendations made in it. Had the former minister responsible for Mepa, George Pullicino, acted in the same manner in the past, the situation at Mepa would now be much better, Mr Cacopardo said.

The AD spokesman said the role of the Malta Tourism Authority in this issue still had to be clarified. The authority included planning experts in its employ, and he could not understand how they had not given proper consideration to the environment aspects of the Mistra project.

Mr Cacopardo said Dr Pullicino Orlando had no alternative but to resign from parliament once he had misled the public.