Mayor and architect Robert Musumeci, heavily criticised for his role in PN president Victor Scerri's Baħrija development, has come in for some more heavy flak from environmental organisations, this time for asking the police to investigate environmentalist Astrid Vella.
Birdlife, Din l-Art Ħelwa, Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar, Friends of the Earth, the Gaia Foundation, Nature Trust and the Ramblers Association said the authorities should investigate the notorious planning applications from the Siġġiewi mayor's district that went against planning policies.
Mr Musumeci is the architect of the controversial project in Baħrija valley. He has filed a libel suit against Ms Vella, a member of FAA, over comments she made about his role in the development and has also asked the police to investigate.
The NGOs said that in 2005, Mr Musumeci had 23 planning applications, most of which were outside development zones in Siġġiewi.
These were recommended for refusal by Mepa planning officers but were later approved by different boards within the authority. There had been other cases since, the said.
"This means that Mepa boards approved planning applications that were against the authority's own policies," the NGOs charged.
These accusations had already been put to Mr Musumeci, who seemed unfazed by them: "While I acknowledge that I am consistently successful with applications with Mepa despite there being a refusal by the case officer, it must be pointed out that defending applications till the very end is precisely what my profession entails."
He pointed out that the 23 applications mentioned were "a small percentage" of the larger number of planning applications submitted in the same year.
Naturally, he added, when faced with a planning objection by a case officer, his output would be harder as he would be challenged to prepare documented legal and planning arguments to be able to win a case.
But the NGOs turned these words against him yesterday.
"Mr Mussumeci should set an example as a mayor and is obliged to adhere to a strict code of ethics as established by the Local Councils Act," they said.
"Instead, he seems to be using technicalities to replace ethical considerations on the environment, and deploying bullying tactics to silence environmental campaigners."