The Malta Environment and Planning Authority (Mepa) has received more than 1,000 objections to Renzo Piano's Valletta project, environmentalist Astrid Vella said yesterday.
Ms Vella said the project to give Valletta a new lease of life was not bad in itself, but she complained about the lack of proper consultation. She also questioned whether €15 million should be spent on an open-air theatre and building a new parliament which could be easily housed in one of the massive auberges in the capital city.
Ms Vella was speaking at an environmental forum, one of the first of its kind, which was organised jointly by environmental groups Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar, which she heads, Friends of the Earth, Nature Trust, Birdlife and the Ramblers' Association.
Referring to Fort St Angelo, which is in a dilapidated state and deteriorating rapidly, Ms Vella said €2.5 million was required to carry out basic restoration work but instead of allocating funds for this project, the government was allocating €1.8 million to build "a bridge to nowhere" - the reconstruction of the bridge to the Grand Harbour breakwater.
Most of the speakers yesterday lamented about individual cases but most of the criticism was levelled at Mepa.
Its chairman, Austin Walker, sat quietly at the back of the room and few noticed he was there until towards the end, when he raised his hand to react to the barrage of complaints he had jotted on his small notebook.
He said he did not want to react to each case individually but rather at the generic claims of corruption made by some speakers.
He admitted Mepa had a bad reputation and insisted that the reform intended to address this. Mr Walker said Mepa was not against having someone like Joe Falzon as its auditor, although this did not necessarily mean the authority had to agree with everything he said.
On the contrary, Mepa's doors were always open to discuss issues with NGOs, which were important to the country, he said.
Ramblers Association secretary Alex Vella criticised the application submitted to regularise the 'illegalities' built at Ta' Baldu in Siġġiewi, which is being used for social activities, such as weddings.
Meanwhile, Church Environment Commission chairman Victor Asciak described Mepa as "an old, toothless dog" since it was not living up to its role of a regulator.
Mepa auditor Joseph Falzon was critical of the way Mepa operated and handled planning applications. He noted that after his recommendations and pressure, DCC meetings with applicants had ceased and minutes were now also being taken of other informal meetings.
He questioned the ethics of professionals within the authority and insisted that Mepa was not receiving good professional input.
Referring to a comment on files which were lost in transit between one office another, Mr Falzon said this was "a tradition" at Mepa, because of the lack of proper file auditing.