Four key underlying principles

The government believes that the key principles that should underpin Mepa's reform should be consistency, efficiency, accountability and enforcement.

In order to secure the embracing of such principles this reform will require not only structural and operational changes within Mepa's current organisational and governance framework but also a change in philosophy and raison d'être.

This programme of reform puts forward a set of measures, presented under each of the four pillars, which together constitute a holistic reform to Mepa which will ensure the achievement of the government's ultimate goal - sustainable development.

The four pillars and respective measures focus on delivering change in respect of the following areas:

Consistency - whether Mepa's policies and decisions are consistent with national policy as well as with the organisation's own specific policies which are published from time to time.

Efficiency - whether Mepa is providing the country with a value-for-money service and whether it is undertaking its responsibilities in a timely manner that takes into account the country's social, economic and environmental realities. This takes into account its:

(a) Core functions - whether the organisation is loaded with responsibilities that can be divested to other competent authorities where they can be fulfilled more effectively, leaving Mepa to focus on its core functions;

(b) Organisational structures - whether the current organisational structure contributes to the achievement of Mepa's mission and whether the locus of responsibilities currently vested within the organisation provides for the best value for ensuring a sustainable built environment and the protection of the environment; and

(c) Operational processes - whether Mepa is providing an efficient service and value for money to the citizen.

Accountability - whether responsibility is entrenched as an individual and collective responsibility across all the facets of the organisation's workload and decision-making.

Enforcement - the ability to ensure that the organisation's decision-making process is being faithfully translated into practice, as well as the ability to take remedial action against defaulters in an effective and exemplary manner.