The current debate in Parliament on the Environment Protection Bill is an insult to civil society and members of Parliament and the Opposition will not be part of it, Opposition deputy leader Mario de Marco said this morning.
Speaking during the debate in Parliament, he charged that the Opposition would not be taking part in the debate while public consultation was only just starting. Parliament, as the professed theatre of democracy, was sometimes becoming a theatre of the absurd, he claimed.
He said that after taking 30 months to come up with the Bill, the government was now rushing through its even though this stood to have a huge impact on the country’s environmental landscape and could make extensive difference in the protection or lack of it for the environment,.
“How can one consult and at the same time close the debate,” he said adding that the government wanted to avoid a serious and informed debate on the principles of such an important law.
The government, he said, professed that it was one that listened, but it was certainly not listening to civil society. This was an insult to civil society and to all MPs.
He said that even under normal circumstances, there could be positive aspects in creating an environmental authority, but Malta was not currently living normal circumstances. It was a small country where the countryside was limited in size, with the highest density of population in all Europe, and where any development would have a major environmental impact.
Essentially the government was trying to decide by itself, not through independent authorities or regulators, where development could take place. No wonder Din l-Art Ħelwa had just said that the government’s credibility had hit an all-time low.
Dr de Marco said the debate was a travesty and a sham, and the Opposition was not ready to participate.
Earlier, Environment Minister Leo Brincat said Malta would have an autonomous environmental authority for the first time focusing on environmental protection. The environment would be given equal importance to development and the conflict within Mepa between planning and environment would be terminated.
He denied that the government was riding roughshod of the people saying the bill would only be debated in committee stage once the consultation period was over.