The reform of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority should focus on ensuring "accountability all down the line", the Gaia Foundation said yesterday.

The foundation, a non-profit integrated coastal management organisation, made a number of recommendations during a meeting with Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi. Together with the call to give more importance on accountability, the foundation suggested an internal audit system based on a point-score system whereby case officers are graded through their reports. This would serve as an early warning system, Rudolf Ragonesi, the foundation's executive director, said. Mepa is being urged to lay more stress on operating in line with an established strategic plan and to steer clear of approving the "ad hoc permits" which characterised the past 15 years.

Another recommendation is to focus more on enforcement. Dr Ragonesi insisted that even if the regulations now in place are enforced as they should be "Malta would see a huge improvement".

The Prime Minister said last week that the time had come for the pendulum to swing "towards the environment". He stressed that there would be a price to be paid for such a shift in policy focus and the discussions on the reforms ahead - particularly that of Mepa - need to take this into account. "I'll leave the debate on structures to the ones who know better. I'd rather focus on policy," he said, stressing that reform would focus on policy changes rather than structural ones.

Dr Gonzi yesterday spoke of the importance of a planning authority that combines both planning and policy. He underlined the importance of the consultation process with civil society and welcomed the Gaia Foundation's participation in this process. He said Mepa needed to be an "authority with teeth" capable of enforcing its own policies.

Dr Gonzi said he expected the Mepa reform consultation period to be concluded within two months. He urged those having anything to say about the Mepa reform to come forward within this period.