Sandro Chetcuti, the former GRTU council member, had refused three times to serve as vice-president of the Malta Developers' Association, before finally giving in to members' pressure, Michael Falzon, the president of the newly-set up association said today.
Mr Chetcuti is undergoing criminal proceedings after having been accused of the attempted murder of GRTU Director-General Vince Farrugia.
Mr Falzon, speaking during the first activity of the association, said Mr Chetcuti had not wished to serve as vice president while the court proceedings were underway.
He said a person was presumed innocent until proven guilty and his position would be re-assessed once the proceedings were concluded.
Speaking at a press conference, Mr Falzon said the main aim of the association was to promote the interests of developers and make their views clear to the government, Mepa and the media.
He complained that the media gave a lot of space to environment NGOs, some of which were dead set against any development. The other side of the argument, he said, also needed to be considered before the people could form an informed opinion.
On the recent Mepa reform, Mr Falzon - a former minister who had piloted the setting up of the Planning Authority - said the government had consulted Mepa officials and environment groups more than developers. The reform was skewed against developers and ordinary applicants for building permits.
Furthermore, he said, fees had tripled and it was clear that developers were being made to cover Mepa costs which had nothing to do with development applications.
The association, he said, would be monitoring how the reform would work in practice before making its observations.
Questioned about the public perception that developers had the major parties in their pockets because of their donations, Mr Falzon said that while the issue of party funding had not yet been discussed by the association, the general view of the members was that they were in favour of having a system where donations were above board.
He said that among the plans of the association was the drawing up of a code of ethics. A first draft has already been prepared.
The association, he said, was in favour of good architecture and against over-development.