FAA calls for re-examination of recent Mepa permits

Environmental group Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar (FAA) has called for recently granted planning permits to be re-examined in the wake of the 'worrying' developments on the Mistra case.

Despite the Structure Plan's guidelines that new developments in the countryside should be limited to essential structures, more than 2,500 permits have been issued Outside the Development Zone over the past two years, the group said in a statement.

Over the last few months, hundreds of applications were submitted for sensitive areas and permits issued by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, including some 'outrageous' ones, like the Safi supermarket.

FAA said it was legitimate to ask whether the DCC boards had been fulfilling their brief to protect the environment, and it called for a re-examination of all permits granted over the past three months.

It said the public had every reason to ask whether it is right that DCC board members taking arbitrary and damaging decisions can then simply resign without having to give an account of themselves or bear any responsibility.

In a reference to the Mistra case, FAA also questioned how the Malta Tourism Authority was allowed to short-circuit the planning process by holding negotiations on tourism projects with Mepa officials away from the gaze of the public.

FAA said that Mepa officials had evaded questions on how the DCC board had taken the decision on the Mistra permit and further claimed that it had no way of knowing how each member voted.

The land belongs to Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, who became embroiled in an explosive controversy during the election campaign after Labour revealed that a discotheque was likely to be developed on this ecologically sensitive land.

FAA said the members who voted on the Mistra permit were: Philip Azzopardi, Carmel J. Portelli, Anthony Mifsud, Mark Azzopardi, Chris Spiteri, and Charles Calleja, though this would not be confirmed by authority officials.

Six voted in favour and one against. Yet Mr Calleja and Mr Azzopardi both claimed afterwards that they voted against the project.

FAA maintains that the secret nature of the decision is not in line with the Development Planning Act, which clearly states that every vote shall be conducted publicly.

"It is hard to believe that Mepa does not keep minutes of meetings or records of votes. Failure to keep such a record or failure to divulge it, violates the spirit, if not the letter of the 'no secret vote' provision; the refusal of Mepa's officials to record or divulge such information implicates them too in a conspiracy of silence in an attempt to shield those who have involved themselves in this case which has from the start been characterised by murky dealings."

Given the Prime Minister's call for greater transparency at Mepa, FAA said it was very surprised by this reply, adding that it had no choice but to say that such an attitude and such officials had no place in a reformed authority.