James Debono MEPA auditor Joe Falzon, whose term as MEPA auditor is set to expire in June, is willing to continue serving as the planning authority’s ombudsman, he has told MaltaToday.
Falzon has served in this role since 2004 and has since been reappointed.
However he has made it clear it would not be possible for him to serve if the post is changed from a part-time to a full-time position.
He also confirmed that so far MEPA has not asked him whether he is interested in serving another term. “I do not know what the situation is… I have not been told anything,” Falzon said.
Last November Falzon announced he was considering stepping down because he could not continue working “in such a hostile environment… I haven’t yet decided whether I will be resigning but I’m thinking about it. All this (my work) is a waste of time.”
He mulled resignation after the authority lashed out at him over a report probing a development permit in Qala, saying he should never even have investigated or published the report because the matter was still before the MEPA appeals board. It said Falzon’s actions contradicted the Ombudsman’s decision, a higher institution.
In the same week, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi also described Falzon’s comments on a court ruling regarding charges of conflict of interest in the Mistra case as “shameful”, because he had not asked for explanations but just “jumped to conclusions”.
But the Auditor continued his work, completing his annual report in which he reiterated his earlier complaint that MEPA continually puts spokes in the wheels of his office.
“Every effort is made by MEPA to try and prove that the Audit Office is wrong. This leads me to conclude that the MEPA expects the Audit Office simply to applaud its actions, whatever they are. If this negative attitude continues, the MEPA reform may as well consider abolishing the post of Audit Officer as it would be irrelevant.”
The MEPA reform document proposed that transferring the Audit Office to the Office of the Ombudsman in order to give him “independent powers over MEPA and which are ultimately accountable to the scrutiny of Parliament”.
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