Alternattiva Demokratika yesterday questioned how neither of the two big parties had recognised and addressed the issue of the high number of vacant properties on the island.

AD chairman Harry Vassallo said it was only the Green party that spoke about the absurdity of having 28 per cent of homes lying vacant, a situation unique to Malta that was threatening its economy and that of its families. No other party talked about the problem because they were financed by the construction industry, Dr Vassallo said.

The time had come to lead the parties to face this dangerous reality before the country experienced an economic and environmental disaster, he added.

Dr Vassallo was speaking at one of a series of meetings being held during the electoral campaign.

Yesterday's focused on what AD considers to be a priority in eventual coalition negotiations: its proposal to separate environment protection from planning within the Malta Environment and Planning Authority.

A reform in planning could only be brought about through a deeper reform of the political system, which would see the introduction of a third party in Parliament and would mean that it would finally have the power to control the government.

The planning aspect had been more organised, resulting in dominating the environmental part, so much so that every visitor to the island was immediately struck by the results of political confusion - not planning.

Malta had reached a "bizarre" state, whereby 53,000 properties were vacant, meaning the population would have to increase by 200,000 to use them. Yet, construction was still going on and at a higher rate than needed.

AD was also proposing how to appoint members of the Mepa board in order to avoid conflicts of interest.

The debate on the protection of the environment was still at an early stage in Malta, whose assets had not yet been understood, AD said. As a result, the loss over the last 40 years was "shocking".