Karl Stagno-Navarra MEPA chairman Austin Walker was in the line of fire all throughout yesterday morning, as NGOs, mayors and representatives from various organisations lashed out at the planning authority.
Speaking to MaltaToday on the margins of a half-day public forum organised by five environmental NGOs, Walker said MEPA reform was expected be presented in Parliament soon after the Christmas recess.
He stopped short of declaring himself on the public outbursts of MEPA audit officer Joseph Falzon, whose office is expected to become attached to the Ombudsman’s office.
“With the reforms in place by March-April 2010, the MEPA auditor will have the legal basis to direct his accusations on suspicions or wrongdoings to the right competent authorities for investigation.
“I have repeatedly invited Joseph Falzon to come to me with evidence on his findings when investigating cases so I could recommend prosecution, but since he does not have the legal power to obtain such evidence, things are as they are,” Austin Walker said.
Falzon yesterday stressed on the need to have qualified decision-makers at MEPA who could be held responsible for their actions. “It’s scandalous to hear architects on television stating their duty is to find loopholes in the law,” in a veiled reference Siggiewi mayor Robert Musumeci’s appearance on TV last week. Musumeci was the architect for Victor Scerri’s planning application in Bahrija.
Falzon insisted an architect’s allegiance was to the State and not to his clients, while also reserving criticism for the general staff at MEPA for not having the qualifications to be responsible for the work they do.
Falzon garnered applause from the audience when he announced that following his insistence, MEPA had decided to stop meetings by development control commission (DCC) members with clients, and that minutes were now being taken at informal meetings.
Walker replied to Falzon saying MEPA was happy to have its auditor “but it doesn’t mean that I as chairman or the executive board have to agree on all [he] says.”
Walker appealed to NGOs to use their energy to help MEPA out, “and not butcher each other.”
In his intervention, Church environment commission president Victor Asciak described MEPA as an “old toothless dog that everybody beat with a stick” to applause from the audience.
He said it had been a mistake to give MEPA direct responsibility for the environment while also handling planning. He called for accountability within MEPA, and reminded the audience that the Church has spoken up on the perception of corruption within MEPA it did so without any fear.
Surprise was expressed by the audience when Flimkien ghall-Ambjent Ahjar (FAA) coordinator Astrid Vella revealed that more than 1,000 objections had been filed on the Renzo Piano plans for City Gate.
Insisting that FAA was not against the Valletta project, Vella criticised the government for not handling public concerns in the right way. “Why spend €15 million on a roofless theatre?” she asked, while referring to the urgent need of spending €2.5 million for basic restoration at Fort St Angelo.
“Why spend €1.8 million on a breakwater bridge that in fact leads to nowhere?”
Vella showed photographs of the Knights armoury in Qormi and its subsequent demolition, alleging “manipulation” of the local plan by the developers and labeling it a “fraudulent application”. Vella said that while the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage had ordered its protection, the DCC ordered it to be demolished.
Vella also raised the matter of an internal investigation that MEPA was supposed to have carried out on order of the Prime Minister, into a policy that allows the conversion of disused horse stables into homes. “The PM had ordered the MEPA chairman to look into this anomaly as it appears now that with all the stables that have developed, there seems to be more cavalry than vehicles in the country!”
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