Less bureaucracy and more transparency is the ultimate aim of a public consultation on the planning authority that is set to kick off on Monday.
What we’re aiming for is more transparency and fewer delays
The initiative, called Semma Leħnek (Have Your Say), will last three weeks and forms part of the plan to separate the authority’s planning and environmental arms, Parliamentary Secretary for Planning Michael Farrugia said yesterday.
Planning and sustainable development will eventually fall under one authority, while the environment branch will be amalgamated with the resources authority and will fall under the Ministry for the Environment.
Speaking during a visit to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority yesterday, Dr Farrugia said a unit would be set up to evaluate complaints and customer care. It will be liaising with the ministry and Mepa to better understand the difficulties faced by clients.
“As was pledged, the Government is committed to reducing bureaucracy by 25 per cent. The Government wants to reduce the duplication of requests for information, often by different governmental entities, so as to increase efficiency and avoid overlapping of procedures.”
Dr Farrugia went on to list a number of examples, some of which are already being tackled, including the issue of Mepa’s “exaggerated tariffs”.
The lack of enforcement during works could sometimes endanger neighbours’ safety, he said.
Applications of the same nature were being treated in different ways, while compliance certificates were being unnecessarily delayed.
The same policies were sometimes interpreted differently and others were not updated, such as those regulating agriculture, fisheries and alternative energy.
He also indicated inconsistencies in decisions taken by the Environment and Planning Tribunal and the Environment and Planning Commission.
Tribunal decisions were still ignored by the authority, he said.
“I’m sure there are a number of other cases the public can add to the list. We need to identify a faster track and clarify policies,” Dr Farrugia said.
“This doesn’t automatically mean that every single person who complains about Mepa is right,” he stressed. “What we’re aiming for is more transparency and fewer delays.”
He added that if architects’ clients’ plans being presented to Mepa fully adhere to the policies, regulations and guidelines, they could be approved within a short span of time.
The Government’s current priority, he stressed, was that of working on policies that cover out-of-zone developments in order to allow for the stimulation of industries such as agritourism.
When asked whether fireworks factories were a priority, he said the Government was currently evaluating several related policies.
When questioned on the Armier boathouses, Dr Farrugia said the process was currently in the consultation stage and discussions were being held in order to reach a compromise.
The public are invited to email their suggestions on Mepa to riformamepa.opm@gov.mt