It’s not developers who have created the ugly landscapes in localities around Malta but bad planners who worked in their personal interest rather than for the common good, according to the president of the Malta Developers Association.

Bad planning policies coupled with people lacking the necessary knowledge or foresight of development requirements have led to a situation where areas like Buġibba need “massive” regeneration, Sandro Chetcuti told The Sunday Times of Malta.

The perception that developers applied pressure on the planning authority was wrong, he said. The burden of responsibility lay with those empowered to decide – they should have enough knowledge and integrity to act in the public interest.

“I created the MDA to start a revolution against bad planning. Inconsistent planning permits hurt industry’s investment,” he stressed.

The previous administration was too biased, too scared to decide

“We employ over 12,000 people. That’s three dockyards!”

Mr Chetcuti was fielding questions following the association’s annual general meeting last Thursday, which was attended by most Cabinet members and leaders of both political parties.

Addressing participants, Mr Chetcuti praised the Labour government for reviving the property market. This was acknowledged by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat in a speech in which he committed to provide even more incentives to boost the industry.

Mr Chetcuti said the change was needed since he believed the previous administration was anti-development: “They didn’t look at industry and its importance. They were too biased, too scared to decide. Just because there was rampant abuse you can’t be scared that things can be done well now.”

He said Opposition leader Simon Busuttil acknowledged this when addressing the developers’ meeting saying the last administration had been very inflexible and did not speak to the industry. He said Dr Busuttil was right about striking a balance between environmental protection and development.

The Opposition leader also stressed land use was limited and a Structure Plan was needed to guide development over the next decades. The plan expired in 2012 and has not yet been replaced.

Dr Busuttil also cast doubt on the need to revise development boundaries, which the government recently said would be “tweaked”. Mr Chetcuti agreed the extension should not serve political purposes.

“Injustices which have been created need to be addressed but the association opposes an extension of the boundaries which would create new injustices or it would be a never-ending story,” he said.

We employ over 12,000 people. That’s three dockyards!

Yet, he believed this was not the government’s intention.

“This government is pro-business. It understands that if you suddenly create a glut of available land the market will collapse,” Mr Chetcuti said, stating, however, the association was not consulted.

He said the way forward was quality not quantity, and this could be seen by the demand being created through the citizenship scheme through which some 400 foreigners have applied for Maltese passports at a premium price.

“These are creating a demand we can’t meet because quality is unfortunately lacking,” Mr Chetcuti said.

He insisted the problem was not created by developers attempting to maximise profits by building cheap pigeon-hole apartments, but bad planning. He believed new policies should address this gap in the market.

‘Both leaders pandered to construction industry’

The statements made by the two political leaders at the developers’ meeting confirmed both parties pandered to the construction industry in exchange for political support, according to Din l-Art Ħelwa.

The organisation said it was a shame both governments never recognised that adding more buildings, mostly unsightly and unplanned, detracted from the quality of our visual environment and added to the unpleasant density of an ever growing anonymous suburbia.

“With both leaders selling their souls brazenly to hunters and now pandering to the construction lobby, what hope is left for the environment?” DLĦ president Simone Mizzi said.

The organisation, which recently marked its 50th anniversary, said recent financial reports showed cultural heritage contributed more to the island’s GDP than the construction industry, even without taking into account the economic value cultural heritage brings to tourism, the largest contributor of all.

The countryside was now so far away due to the 2006 extended development boundaries that few people risked hours of traffic to go find it.

“But we are still in time to restrict the boundaries to development zones. We hope the proposed dialogue the Prime Minister intends to have with environmentalists will cover this issue before, not after, revision of policies is affected,” Ms Mizzi said.

She added the planning authority had always rubber stamped development and warned the situation would become worse when its environmental arm of responsibility was passed on.

‘Vote Joseph or Simon... and you will still get Sandro’

The way the two biggest political parties were courting the developers’ lobby was worrying and its consequences evident, according to Friends of the Earth.

The environmental organisation said the presence of the Prime Minister and the Opposition leader at the developers’ AGM spoke volumes about their agendas and values.

“Are they simply telling us that by voting Joseph (Muscat) or Simon (Busuttil) you get Sandro (Chetcuti), no matter what? We need respectable politicians with sound values,” said chairman Martin Galea de Giovanni.

Dr de Giovanni referred to the Prime Minister’s New Year’s speech in which he said one of the key lessons learnt by his government last year was the need to enter into more dialogue with environmentalists.

Yet, NGOs had very little faith in anything constructive coming out of such dialogue.

“Actions speak louder than words and, considering the appalling track record of both parties, politicians cannot expect NGOs to lap up their token requests,” Dr de Giovanni added. This was not only about politicians trampling over the few open spaces left, but also about democratic processes in the country. Referring to the government’s announcement regarding the “tweaking” of development boundaries, he warned plans were still mysterious.

“Should we brace ourselves for a repeat of the 2006 rationalisation plan, the effects of which are still haunting us?

“Isn’t it time the Prime Minister fulfils the promise in his electoral manifesto that ‘Malta should be in the vanguard on environmental standards’?” Dr de Giovanni said.

The country needed a long-term sustainable plan that also addressed need people’s need to enjoy open spaces, clean air and a healthy lifestyle.

“This should be the responsibility of all parties that have the interest of our country at heart.”