The lobby against the Marsascala waste recycling plant will be calling on political parties to open an inquiry into the way the facility was given the green light after the controversial investigation report on the case is published today.
Carmel Cacopardo, former assistant to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority's audit officer, is expected to publish the 120-page report this afternoon. Mr Cacopardo will be contesting the March 8 election on behalf of Alternattiva Demokratika.
On Wednesday he challenged the Prime Minister to make public the document, saying that if Lawrence Gonzi did not publish it within 48 hours, he would. His former boss, Joe Falzon, who had staunchly defended Mr Cacopardo when Mepa refused to renew his contract as investigating officer last year, deplored his threat, arguing that Mr Cacopardo should not use for political expediency a document he had obtained as a result of his former role.
Mr Cacopardo reacted saying he respected Mr Falzon and understood his position but insisted he would still be publishing the document.
Unsurprisingly, when asked to comment on this development, the secretary of the committee lobbying against the plant, Joe Sant, said he welcomed Mr Cacopardo's decision.
"We have been trying to get this report in different ways for years now so I'm obviously happy at this decision".
"Honestly, I cannot understand the audit officer's position, especially when, as Mr Cacopardo has hinted, part of the report exposes the fact that certain health issues relating to the plant were not studied," he said, referring to Mr Falzon's decision not to publish the document.
Mr Falzon said on different occasions that he believed the document should be published but that he would respect a recommendation by the Ombudsman not to. The latter had been drawn into the matter by Mepa, which asked him to declare the publication of the report prejudicial to the pending appeals proceedings.
The Ombudsman yesterday pointed out that the rules governing his office and, by extension, those of Mepa's audit office, lay down that investigations should be suspended when the matter ends in court, which is exactly what happened in the Sant'Antnin case.
He even subtly criticised Mr Cacopardo's decision to make the report public, pointing out that the rules of good administration bind a public officer to be loyal to his office. "Loyalty imposes the duty to be correct, maintain confidentiality of information obtained in the performance of one's duties, and that such officer does not abuse his position for personal aims," he insisted.
Environment Minister George Pullicino defended the government's position in respect to Mr Cacopardo's challenge by saying that the Prime Minister could not be expected to go against the opinion of the Ombudsman and have the report published.
While avoiding being drawn into the merits of whether the document should be made public, he insisted that Mr Cacopardo's position was not correct.
Mr Cacopardo insisted in his blog yesterday ( http://carmelcacopardo.wordpress.com ) that, in a situation where the institutions "become accomplices in covering and hiding, I have a moral obligation to uncover".
He had various requests to leak the document over the past weeks but chose to publish the document himself and take full responsibility for his act, he added.
mmicallef@timesofmalta.com