Alternattiva Demokratika chairperson Harry Vassallo yesterday called the proposal made by Lawrence Gonzi to take personal responsibility for MEPA reform “a cheap gimmick”.
“Once more the Prime Minister is following closely in AD’s tracks. Alternattiva Demokratika had indicated the need for Prime Ministerial responsibility for land-use planning before the 2003 election.”
Vassallo said that after Gonzi’s performance as prime minister, the party was withdrawing its 2003 proposal. “We have no confidence in his ability to safeguard the common good.”
Vassallo said the Prime Minister’s “conversion to green priorities remains under heavy suspicion since his track record on the environment belies his promises.”
“Although he was ex officio chair of the Malta Council for Sustainable Development he failed to attend any meeting for months on end until he was publicly criticised by Martin
Scicluna. His government will go down in history as the one which illegally extended development zones in 2006, promoted high-rise development and relaxed height limitations across the country while dragging its feet on the publication of the 2005 Census results.
“His government has encouraged the accumulation of 53,000 vacant properties which are a permanent burden on our quality of life and a major threat to the economies of thousands of families owning property and to the Maltese economy as a whole,” Vassallo said.
Vassallo said Gonzi’s credibility in environment was “below zero and his past claims to hold the environment as one of his policy pillars has become a classic of Maltese political doublespeak.”
“By renewing his environment pillar promises he only reminds the country of his deliberate betrayal of the legitimate expectations of the Maltese to enjoy a decent quality of life.”
Referring to AD’s new candidate and former PN candidate Carmel Cacopardo, whose service at MEPA as audit investigator was not renewed, Vassallo said Gonzi’s new resolution added insult to injury.
“The consistent rejection of criticism and the systematic defeat of all institutional check mechanisms such as the Audit Office in MEPA under his leadership have provoked the resignation of Carmel Cacopardo from the PN after a militancy of 30 years and his candidature with Alternattiva Demokratika in order to distance himself publicly from the justification of the unjustifiable under the Gonzi leadership.”