Mepa has become “Malta’s Alcatraz”, Opposition spokesman Ryan Callus told Parliament yesterday, saying he regarded it as “a mission impossible” to even get the names of members of the board interviewing people for promotions.
Fellow MP Kristy Debono described Mepa as “an authority of compromise”.
The two Opposition MPs were speaking during the debate in Parliament over the motion to approve the financial estimates of the authority.
Mr Callus said the Opposition disapproved of the arrogant way in which it was being treated in the Mepa board.
Mepa chairman Vincent Cassar had said that members of the interviewing board had been appointed by CEO Johann Buttigieg. It was therefore no surprise that Mr Buttigieg had directed the Mepa board to reject the request to publish the names of its members.
“This stinks,” said Mr Callus, adding that Mr Buttigieg and Mr Cassar seemed to be puppets of the government.
Mepa’s legal adviser, Robert Abela, had said he did not believe the request to publish the names of individuals on the interviewing committee was in the best interests of Mepa.
“This is obscene. Mepa has become Malta’s Alcatraz,” Mr Callus said, adding that the Opposition was not ready to be treated in this arrogant manner.
Ronnie Vella, an individual close to the CEO and who was undermining Mepa’s impartiality, had been promoted twice in two years, he said. It was unacceptable for this person to give information to developers or applicants in order to harm the Opposition.
“Does the Prime Minister believe that Mr Vella is a spy?” Mr Callus asked in direct reference to the three public officers who had collaborated with former Finance Minister Tonio Fenech. “Will he suspend Mr Vella?”
Mr Callus said Marisa Darmanin was promoted twice in a single day, from grade 6 to grade 8. A call for two administrative assistants was increased to 17.
In view of the state of affairs in Mepa with regard to promotions, it was no surprise that the government had tried to keep these matters secret.
Marlene Farrugia (PL) said the authority had enormous relevance when it was set up; it had even more relevance at present. People must be convinced that their taxes facilitated the achievement of Mepa’s mission statement.
The authority had enormous relevance when it was set up; it has even more relevance at present. People must be convinced that their taxes facilitate the achievement of Mepa’s mission statement
She was concerned that such a debate was being reduced to partisan politics. The authority was wrongly used by previous governments. She was worried that this could happen again.
Mepa employees could not achieve their full potential because of past political interference.
Yet one had to determine whether Mepa was in the same position at present. Employees must be able to perform their tasks “free from oppression”.
Individuals were promoted under previous governments. The electorate voted for meritocracy. People should know that they would achieve their goals if they worked hard.
One should let Mepa operate autonomously if it is to ensure good quality of life.
Earlier, Marthese Portelli (PN) said the authority had lost direction and forgotten its obligations while ignoring its responsibility.
She referred to Monday’s meeting of the House Environment and Planning Committee regarding the site selection report on the Żonqor site for development.
She said Mepa CEO Johann Buttigieg had admitted that the environment protection division was not involved in the site selection. Mr Buttigieg had also refused to name the technical people who worked on this report. Why was the division not consulted on the report?
Joe Debono Grech (PL) asked where the people were now who had protested in favour of the environment in the past. Under previous legislatures, Mepa had rejected a request to build a cemetery in Birkirkara because 15 carob trees would have had to be uprooted. However, 154 carob trees were uprooted to construct Mater Dei Hospital.
Kristy Debono (PN) said decisions taken at Mepa were to benefit the few at the cost of the many. She considered it odd that its CEO took responsibility for identifying the ODZ site of Żonqor for development.
Such behaviour, she said, may be sold as “cutting bureaucracy” but was in reality “obscuring transparency”.
Joe Sammut (PL) said that “monster Mepa” had long been in existence with a situation of two weights and two measures being prevalent. He felt proud to belong to the Mepa board which had changed Mepa from a monster to a more accessible authority with a fairer outlook.
Ċensu Galea (PN) said that he was concerned about Mepa, adding that architects were not commenting since they feared repercussions on their practices.
He had always been a severe critic of the authority and now there was a sense of fear among the workers and fear of interference at all levels.
Concluding the debate, Parliamentary Secretary Michael Falzon said transparency had always been an issue at Mepa. The government had worked to increase the complement in the enforcement section to deal with the 10,000 pending cases.
Referring to calls for applications in various sections, Dr Falzon said that in some areas the calls had not been issued for years and consequently the applicants were considerable in number.
Mepa was pushing forward policies in areas which had been unregulated for years.