Heavyweights criticise government

Two heavyweights closely associated with the Nationalist Party have slammed the government in separate articles over its approach the University and Malta Environment and Planning Authority reform.

Writing in The Sunday Times today (page 13), Fr Peter Serracino Inglott criticises the amount of money allocated to the University in the budgetary vote, saying it is "so paltry as to signify a downturn rather than a take-off into new spheres".

Fr Peter says that although political leaders have "trumpeted" that the University should be a "propulsive force" in the creation of zones of excellence and not just a mere teaching institution, the financial estimates only assign €33 million to the University for the purposes of research and the library.

He observes in rather sarcastic tone: "Logically, I can only suppose, in the light of both the Finance Minister's and the Prime Minister's discourse, that somehow, some typographical or other error has crept into the estimates."

Fr Peter also calls for quality assurance to be implemented at the University to enable it to compete with the increasing presence of foreign universities competing for clients in Malta.

He says the Commission for Tertiary Education was set up to deal with these contextual changes and that ensuring quality assurance was one of its aims.

"Without it, an innovation-driven university is just as inconceivable as it is without the initial funding that is required to enable the University itself to earn significant income from non-government sources... Education Minister Dolores Cristina cannot certainly complain that her plate is devoid of bones."

Meanwhile, former Nationalist minister Michael Falzon (page 14) says that in the past eight months the government has only offered glimpses of Mepa reform that does "nothing to reassure me that the needed changes will happen".

Mr Falzon says: "The problem is that (Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi) thinks he can get the desired effects by legislative and administrative measures. Unfortunately, the problem is one of the organisation's very culture and it can never be nudged to change itself; more so as Mepa seems to be playing the old game of showing that it welcomes change, as it has always done to retain the status quo!"

The former minister also criticises Dr Gonzi for making a case for Mepa to ditch permit applications that immediately appear to be unacceptable, saying: "This is kow-towing to the environmental lobby in the most incredibly naïve and short-sighted way."

He goes on to say that giving Mepa more power would only increase the possibility of abuse of power and that Dr Gonzi has not indicated any measures aimed at reducing inconsistencies in the authority's decisions - "a state of affairs that is the source of real and justified complaints about the way it treats citizens".

"The problem with Mepa is the culture within and there is no real solution unless a determined change agent from outside is entrusted to change this and does so before he or she turns native - as has apparently happened to the Prime Minister in the last eight months."