A former Malta Environment and Planning Authority director till 2004 said today that he had “daily” political interference with decisions of enforcement against environmental abusers.

“I had daily interference, the question is how you are going to deal with it...” Stephen Farrugia, who is now the President of the Chamber of Architects, said on TimesTalk this evening.

He argued that it would be naive to think that there was no political interference, but added that this could be negotiated if the people at the helm of the authority had the political backing to do their job. 

Asked if he had ever received phone calls from politicians in respect of specific enforcement actions, Mr Farrugia said: “We had a list of (enforcement sites) where we should go and where we should not go... “At the end of the day it was up to us to choose those cases that to us were more of a priority, and that is what always happened but I think you have to be naive to believe that there wasn’t ever any political interference and that there isn’t today”.

Mr Farrugia was appointed Director of Planning in 2003, following a long career at the authority, but left in 2004. His departure had caused controversy as he later took up a job with Polidano Brothers; however, he left shortly after and set up a private practice.  

See video.