David Darmanin
As the pre-announced end-of-year deadline for the reform of MEPA looms, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi on Thursday addressed a Business Breakfast organised by this newspaper in collaboration with Kamra tal-Periti (KTP) to explain the approach adopted by government on this very matter.
“This is the fourth reform MEPA will be undergoing,” Gonzi started. “The previous three came as a result of people’s complaints on delays. The changes we will be undergoing now deal with the exact opposite. We are not working directly on speed, but we are much rather concerned with quality. We are aiming at achieving a sustainable development policy, and this can only be done by tying in MEPA’s reform with other reforms.”
Mentioning as examples the rent law reform and the loathed utility tariffs price hikes, Gonzi stressed that other actions need to be taken outside the realms of MEPA if we are to truly transform it into a dynamic and efficient authority.
“If we are to ensure the success of a sustainable development policy, we cannot possibly leave rent regulation out of it. MEPA reform needs to be tied into the big picture, like a missing piece in a jigsaw puzzle. How can we ensure that solar panels are installed on people’s roofs, if part of our electricity bills remain subsidised?” he said.
Although the mention of new prices for our electricity bills may have had him start on the wrong foot, on this issue of holism, the dozens of architects attending the breakfast all seemed to nod in agreement.
“Don’t tell me to reform MEPA without the inclusion of other reforms, because we will see MEPA changing but still remain where we are as a country,” he stressed.
To reinforce his argument, Gonzi then complained about his internet service being unavailable the previous evening: “How are we to expect this country to be a centre of excellence in ICT if my email service at home shuts down on me every now and then? ”
Had it not been for a previous remark about him checking his emails on PDA while being driven around, he would have fully succeeded in making his audience, if even for a moment, forget about him being Prime Minister, but rather picture him as a normal citizen complaining about common issues.
Zooming in on the details, Gonzi reminded participants that MEPA reform is built on four key principles – namely transparency, efficiency, enforcement and consistency.

Two types of transparency
“There are two types of transparency,” he pointed out. “MEPA in itself is one of the most transparent sectors in government. It has systems in place showing the entire process from application all the way to the decision stages. But the transparency dealing with what has led to the decision itself is a completely different story.”
Clearly, in the last seven months Gonzi took MEPA under his wing, much time was spent analysing the main internal struggles– of which he seems to be well aware of by now.
“MEPA ends up in situations where officials have to play it safe and recommend for refusal, even if an application should go through. Something is not right. Every officer needs to be accountable for his or her actions and not shoot up the ball to the Development Control Commission (DCC). Also, it must be said that when the DCC changes a decision – it needs to explain its reasons as clearly as possible in order to eliminate any doubts – this is the type of transparency we are after.”

Beauty in the eye of the beholder
When KTP had presented its MEPA reform proposals to government, it had pointed out that there needs to be control not just on where and how a structure is built, but also on its design. Gonzi does not seem to be after making the lion sculptures on people’s facades illegal, though.
“I’ve seen work which architects have described as ugly, but which I liked,” he said. “I have also seen work which architects described as outstanding, but which I did not like. I do not think MEPA can determine whether a design is beautiful or not, since what is deemed beautiful for one person, may not be deemed such for the other,” he said.

PM wants money in developers’ hands, not banks
Moving on to the efficiency issue, Gonzi made a show of empathy to developers who “lose money every extra day an application remains pending”: a move that made GRTU Property Developers section Sandro Chetcuti lay heaps of praise on him after his speech.
“The money developers lose when applications are not processed fast enough are gained by banks. There is nothing wrong with it, I bless banks who make money, but I would much rather leave that money in the hands of developers.”
It is envisaged that most MEPA applications will now be processed in a maximum of six days, but for this to happen the Prime Minister appealed to architects not to apply for permits that will evidently fail the process, as this wastes a lot of time and resources.
“There will have to be a system where certain applications are rejected immediately. We must also create a system where you cannot apply for certain developments. The way it is now, anyone can apply for the development of a structure on third party property. If I apply to build the green area stretching between Pieta’ and Valletta, nobody can stop me from applying as things stand today.”

Empowering MEPA to demolish
On enforcement, Gonzi pointed out that a radical change is needed in the way illegal buildings are dealt with, and he is toying with the idea of empowering MEPA to have the necessary authority to demolish any illegal structure.
There is also a resolution on restricting the issue of permits in outside development zones (ODZ).
“The starting point for any ODZ permit should be ‘no’, even though some ODZ permits are necessary in the interest of the nation,” he said.

Resident rights and complaints
“There is a price to pay though. Residents complain about construction taking place in their neighbourhood. What are we to do? Stop developing in built-up zones too?”
On this note, Gonzi ends his speech to answer a first intervention from the floor – that of Green Party chairman Arnold Cassola: “That we need to look at this reform holistically is one positive aspect of your speech, but you have been talking for the past hour now – and spent 58 minutes talking about architects and developers, and merely two minutes on the needs of residents,” he remarked. “We must seriously take into account the quality of life of residents. If we are expected to live for 70 or 80 years, we must not spend our lives enduring hammering noises simply because some cowboy decided to build underneath my apartment.”
On the Prime Minister’s mention of Outside Development Zone permit restriction, Cassola reminded the floor that: “MEPA issued 5,000 ODZ permits in the space of a year.”
He called for a stance of authority beyond political will, in order to avoid sagas such as the Ulysses Lodge permit one which “was rejected by parliament and is now expected to be reviewed again by MEPA.”
He also suggested a move which Alternattiva Demokratika has been pushing for since the last general elections: the separation of planning and development sections within MEPA, as “these work against each other’s interests.”
Next in line to talk was Labour Party MP and spokesperson for MEPA Roderick Galdes, who also agreed with the Prime Minister on the principles with which this reform is being approached.
“But we also need to discuss direction, which MEPA lacks,” he qualified.
GRTU director-general Vince Farrugia said: “Recently I had the opportunity to ask a group of people to define entrepreneurship and one particular comment stuck to mind. ‘Entrepreneurship is all about convincing oneself about a target and attaining it.’ Every day, I get to deal with people who are convinced about a target but find closed doors. Half of the ugliness of Malta is due to this fact – because people get convinced of the wrong ideas. So let us not convince people ofthe wrong ideas – let us not convince them about wind farms. I don’t want to see them in our countryside.”
Sandro Chetcuti, in charge of the GRTU’s Developers’ Section, was next to talk. “You have been criticised by Alternattiva Demokratika for not defending residents and their rights,” he told the Prime Minister, “but maybe Mr Cassola does not know what work is done by the BiCC (Building Industry Consultative Council).”
Perit Alex Torpiano was the first architect to speak. “Aesthetics need to be taken into consideration as part of the planning process,” he said. “Also, your argument on refusing scandalous applications before they are even submitted is dangerous – because who will there be to determine whether an application is scandalous or otherwise?”
“We must incorporate a reform in public transport if we are to really adopt a sound and holistic change,” said architect Jacques Borg Barthet. The Prime Minister nodded in agreement.
On her part, environmental activist Astrid Vella said she didn’t want “half-baked results.”
“Energy Efficiency regulations for example, have been prepared but were never introduced. Enforcement within MEPA is the only section where we saw no improvement at all. Sometimes when we report, we get the opposite effect,” she said before making an appeal to Gonzi to re-offer AD executive member Carmel Cacopardo his position back at the auditor’s office.

 

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