Mepa reform seeking balance - de Marco

The reform at the Malta Environment and Planning Authority was aimed at making the organisation more efficient by trying to seek a balance between what developers and environmentalists wanted, Parliamentary Secretary Mario de Marco said.

Speaking on Radio 101 during an interview with The Times journalist Kurt Sansone, Dr de Marco said this would not be easy but the reform was trying to listen to everyone.

The reform, which would be moved in Parliament before the end of the year, was felt necessary because people were unhappy with the authority’s behaviour. There were complaints of major delays in the processing of applications, of lack of accountability and of lack of enforcement.

A lot of good non-controversial decisions were taken by the authority daily but it was the few controversial ones that made the headlines.

Dr de Marco said that for Mepa to be more credible, its consistency had to be improved.

The reform would not be the last, since this was a process which had to be continuous, he said.

Dr de Marco was also asked about whether VAT on restaurants should be reduced from 18 to 15 percent. He said this would mean, according to the Finance Ministry, a loss of €30 million from VAT and less money for advertising.

Would consumption increase so much as if to justify this, he asked.

However, the government had not said yes or no to the measure. It agreed with the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association to carry out an independent study on the impact of such a measure on the economy. This study was currently being held.