BirdLife files judicial protest against Mepa over EU project

BirdLife has filed a judicial protest against the Malta Environment and Planning Authority accusing it of failing to honour an EU project in which they were partners.

The conservation group referred to a statement Mepa issued on February 4 denying that it had entered into any formal commitment to sponsor the Life+ Information Project on Bird Migration and Trapping and that BirdLife had failed to meet Mepa's "condition" to involve hunters and trappers.

It said Mepa had signed the official co-financer commitment form on July 7, 2008, which was part of the project proposal approved by the European Commission.

The only condition Mepa had laid down to ensure payment was that the project had to be approved by the Commission. How could Mepa now accuse BirdLife Malta of not honouring an obligation to involve trappers when such an obligation did not exist, BirdLife asked.

Although it was evident that such a condition did not exist, the project still included actions that involved trappers and trappers' associations and this was clearly written in the project proposal, the judicial protest said. BirdLife said Mepa was consulted throughout the development of the project.

It said the co-financers agreement signed by Mepa was supposed to have been followed up by a conclusive co-financiers document, just as a promise of sale was followed up by a contract. However, Mepa, for reasons best known to itself, was refusing to sign the second document.

Speaking in front of the law courts in Valletta, BirdLife Malta executive director Tolga Temuge said that since the authority fell under the Office of the Prime Minister, BirdLife had a meeting with officials on January 6 and demanded an explanation. More than two weeks later, the Prime Minister's Office sent BirdLife a one-line message saying that it was in agreement with Mepa's position, Mr Temuge said.

"It is unbelievable that the Prime Minister's Office, which is supposed to be in charge of Mepa and the environment, does not even bother to explain how it can support Mepa's position when all the evidence shows that the authority is in breach of a signed and sealed contract," said Mr Temuge.

"Mepa is supposed to be the authority working to safeguard Malta's environment. Yet, instead of making sure that the Accession Treaty agreement Malta signed with the EU to stop trapping in 2009 and beyond is communicated to the trappers in the most effective way, the authority, for reasons known only to itself and the OPM, prefers to sit on the fence and unjustly issue false accusations against BirdLife," Mr Temuge charged.

Lawyer Franco Vassallo filed the judicial protest.