Din l-Art Ħelwa yesterday urged the government to ensure that the public is given adequate opportunity to voice its views and concerns on the demerger of Mepa.

It said the new government entities that are to be formed by this demerger will shape the future of development and the environment in Malta for many years to come.

On Friday the government published three draft Bills to regulate the forthcoming split at Mepa.

The NGO said that the consultation documents in 2014 on this demerger were only made available in the week after the public meeting was held, and Din l-Art Ħelwa was therefore not able to read, discuss and prepare questions on these documents to be addressed at the public meetings.

“The public consultation period of three weeks in 2014 was also much too short for an important issue such as this. For these reasons, Din l-Art Ħelwa had stated at the time that did not consider this public consultation to have been adequately carried out,” it said.

One of the main principles of the Aarhus Convention, to which Malta is a signatory, is that the public has the right to participate effectively in decision-making on environmental matters, the NGO stressed.