The MEPA reform announced by the Prime Minister yesterday would see the authority becoming more efficient and consistent while ensuring more accountability and enforcement, the Nationalist Party said.

The PN said that in a democratic country, a credible and consistent authority was needed to control building and the reform was based on consistency, efficiency, accountability and enforcement.

The measures announced were aimed at implementing the consistency principle, seeing that committees took decisions that were more in line with each other and with the MEPA board. A number of policies, were also to be clarified to reduce inconsistencies.

Measures promoting efficiency would see MEPA focusing on its main sectors and committees that took decisions and decided appeals would be full time. Applicants would also get replies within 12 weeks.

The reform also made a number of concrete proposals for more accountability and enforcement.

These included that planning and environmental policies would be drawn up within the Office of the Prime Minister while enforcement would be at the centre of a better environmental policy which respected rights.

The reform, the PN said, created a balance between development and environment protection.

It also implemented another party electoral promise.

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