Mepa cannot still be assessing projects of a certain magnitude on the basis of a development brief and an environment impact assessment drawn up in 1999, the Sliema Residents' Association and Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar said in a statement.
The two organisations referred to Mepa's approval yesterday of the Tigne North plans to build three more blocks, two rising to 14 storeys, comprising a further 102 apartments, as well as shops and offices.
The social, economic and environment scene has changed completely since 1999, when the EIA was drawn up, they said.
They asked why these high rise apartment blocks were being approved when: the Mepa policy on high rise development in the Maltese Islands had not been properly ratified, the 1992 local plan had warned against the building of more apartment blocks because Sliema was already over-congested, the 2005 census showed that there were already 4,500 empty apartments in the area and the IMF warned Malta that its over-dependence on development was affecting the banking sector.
"The impact of this foregone conclusion to this application is to greatly increase the population in this highly visible location and to place more stress on the local infrastructure - roads, drains, power supplies, etc.
"Yet Mepa's Environment Protection Division only requested an updated visual impact study, which reported the impact to Sliema and Valletta residents as major impact, but went on to recommend approval."
The NGOs asked why the Environment Protection Division ignored air quality, shading and social impact studies, when it had imposed such studies on other projects in the area.
"There seems to be no concept that an environment impact assessment is not intended to block construction but to identify the best options.
"Tigne North' has been a prime example of poor consultation and procedure. The visual impact study claims that no representations from objectors were received by Mepa – yet Mepa itself acknowledged these objectors."
The NGOs said that EIS documents online were practically inaccessible while traffic impact studies updated in 2010 - before all Tower Road traffic was deviated towards the MIDI project - had not been made available to the public.
They said the public hearing scheduled for December 2, did not meet legal requirements since it was advertised as being held from 3 to 5 p.m., but when residents turned up at 4 p.m. Mepa officials had already left.
"The price of property is falling yet still more is being added to the stock – to the detriment of Malta, the financial well-being of the island and that of our banking system.
"Mepa has betrayed its mission statement to ensure a quality of life that will be in harmony with the natural, cultural and built environment – in this hearing it was as if Mepa reform had never happened," the NGOs said.