News | Sunday, 29 March 2009

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MEPA helps itself to car park fund to buy Hexagon House

James Debono
After MaltaToday’s Wednesday edition confirmed that the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA) bought Hexagon House using cash from a publicly financed parking fund, the Hamrun local council claims to have ‘lost’ €45,000 from its share of the allotted funds.
The council is now requesting an urgent meeting with MEPA’s chairman, Austin J. Walker.
In order to buy Hexagon House in Marsa – the same building which made headlines this week, due to emissions of hydrogen sulphide from the sewage system leading to its evacuation on Monday – MEPA took out a €3.1 million, interest-free loan from the Community Parking Payment Scheme (CPPS): a fund used to finance community car parks. This arrangement has angered local councils, as the CPPS is financed directly by fees developers pay to MEPA if they are unable to provide the required parking facilities for their projects. The money is then used to finance car parks.
The Hamrun council is particularly incensed, as the funding supposedly allocated by MEPA for a new car park in the locality has now shrunk by €44,536 on account of the authority’s loan from CPPS.
“The Council was surprised to learn that funds collected in Hamrun through CPPS were used by MEPA to purchase a new premises, and will be requesting an urgent meeting with the chairman of MEPA to further discuss this issue,” executive secretary Philip Massa told MaltaToday.
Massa said that in November 2007 the Hamrun council had enquired with MEPA on the amount of money collected through the CPPS for the construction of an underground car park in Duke of Edinburgh street, that was devolved to the council by the government.
The council was informed €150,430 had been collected in CPPS funds from Hamrun. But a year later, the council was told that only €105,894 were left in the same fund.
Upon receiving this information, the council wrote to former MEPA director-general Godwin Cassar to enquire why the balance had decreased, but the council never received an answer.
Neor did MEPA answer questions sent by MaltaToday on this matter.
The Hamrun council’s project consists of a five-storey underground car park accommodating 160 vehicles, a new council office and a recreational garden.

Give councils their money – Arrigo
Nationalist backbencher Robert Arrigo, a former Sliema mayor, is insisting that the CPPS monies should be devolved to councils to enable them carry out roadworks.
MEPA had accumulated €7.45 million from 10 localities through the CPPS before purchasing Hexagon House. It will now repay the €3.1 million loan in four years, at zero interest.
“These are monies collected from businesses and residents who lack a garage space with the declared purpose of returning the money back to the community through the development of car parks and improve traffic infrastructure… Those who collected this money are morally obliged to spend it in a way which benefits the community,” Arrigo told MaltaToday.
Asked whether it was appropriate for MEPA to take an internal loan, Arrigo said that as long as it made commercial sense for the same fund, he could not object. “But it is now vital that the money accumulated in this fund is handed to the local councils.”
Introduced in 1994, businesses in Sliema alone have contributed €2 million to the CPPS. For its part, MEPA said it received authorisation from the finance ministry to take the interest-free loan.
The CPPS balances are subject to a 0.25% monthly administration charge and any interest earned is accrued to the fund. “It was agreed that no administration charge will be levied on the CPPS balances whilst on loan to MEPA. This agreement was made to compensate for any loss of investment revenue which the fund may sustain by lending this money to MEPA,” a spokesperson said.

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