PBS chief John Bundy has dismissed suggestions that the public broadcaster had barred environmental activist Astrid Vella from speaking on its radio shows.
“I can’t understand her comments,” Mr Bundy said, denying claims that there had been any instruction or decision to exclude the Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar coordinator from broadcasts.
“The line-up is always at the discretion of the producer. We send for guests as we need them. If the producer needs her on the show, then she’ll be invited.”
Ms Vella claimed earlier this week that her requests to appear on the PBS programme Familja Waħda, where she previously discussed environmental issues on a monthly basis, had been refused for the past six months.
She also claimed that listeners who remarked on her absence were told that she was no longer inclined to appear on the show, prompting her to set the record straight.
We’ve been busy and we’ve had to schedule other people
“I can only presume that I have been banned by someone in charge who is not comfortable with the fact that FAA speaks the inconvenient truth, whoever is in power,” Ms Vella wrote on Facebook.
Six months ago, Ms Vella had been one of the most outspoken critics of the Planning Authority process to grant permits to controversial high-rise developments in Mrieħel and Tigné.
She told the Times of Malta that her enforced absence from Familja Waħda appeared to be linked to critical remarks she had made during one broadcast, shortly after details emerged about the inclusion of Mrieħel as a designated area for high-rise projects after the close of public consultation.
Astrid Vella took to Facebook to voice her concerns. Image: Facebook“Our concern is primarily that the public is being deprived of one of its only sources of reliable information on development matters,” Ms Vella said. “There is a huge thirst for this, which the authorities know; the phone doesn’t stop ringing when we're on the radio.”
Some listeners have reported that, following Ms Vella’s remarks on Familja Waħda, host Lillian Maestre had on occasion asked that phone-ins limit themselves to cultural activities organised by Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar. When contacted, however, Ms Maestre denied ever having restricted the subject matter of contributions, or having received any instructions over Ms Vella’s appearances on the programme.
“We’ve been busy and we’ve had to schedule other people,” she said in response to the claims.