Undermining Mepa
Published by Times of Malta on 22nd September, 2006.
An institution stands or falls on the level of public support it commands.
The Malta Environment and Planning Authority is such an institution, and, I am sorry to say, over the past few years its credibility has been eroded to such an extent that it is now probably at an all time low, possibly irreparably damaged. Let me prove my point.
In the past couple of months we have had a glimpse inside the inner workings of Mepa. This glimpse was provided in two no-punches-pulled interviews in The Times with a serving audit officer and a former official.
The gist of their comments was that they wanted Mepa to be an effective and robust regulatory body, because as things now stand, it is virile with the small fry, and impotent with the big fish.
It has been touted that the Hondoq ir-Rummien project will have "zero impact" on the marine environment. Cynicism apart, this is testament to the clout of the environment lobby, because whereas not so long ago such a project would have been promoted on the strength of its job creating potential, today the developers are trying to sell it as being environmentally beneficial.
This is a desperate, but patently futile attempt by the developers not to raise the ire of the environment lobby. A Policy number TOU 4 of the Structure Plan specifically and unequivocally lays down the areas where tourism related projects can take place on Gozo. Hondoq ir-Rummien is not one of them.
This is not the first time developers have proposed a project that is diametrically opposed to the Structure Plan. It is about time Mepa sends out a clear signal that it will not tolerate any more infringements by rejecting such proposals instantly.
Matters are not being helped by the government either. Despite widespread opposition, including significantly enough by the Chamber of Architects, Parliament recently approved the extension of the building zones under the guise of rationalisation.
The government has run roughshod over Mepa and created an ugly precedent: Hypothetically speaking, a future Labour government, despite its grandstanding on this issue, may very well feel free to do likewise should it suit its needs.
As if this were not enough, there are reasons to believe that the government has surreptitiously removed the Ta' Cenc area from the list of 23 sites designated as Special Areas of Conservation (known as Natura 2000 Sites) as part of its obligations under EU environmental legislation. By its actions the government is sabotaging the Structure Plan to the point of turning it into a document not worth the paper it is printed on. As rightly pointed out in The Times editorial (August 7), Mepa is acting rather bizarrely in this whole affair.
All Mepa has to do to regain public confidence and not remain a taxpayers' money guzzling behemoth is to fall like a ton of bricks on any infringement by the big developers. Unless it does so, they will keep second-guessing its reactions to the detriment of us all.
Toni Farrugia (AD Gozo)
Victoria
An institution stands or falls on the level of public support it commands.
The Malta Environment and Planning Authority is such an institution, and, I am sorry to say, over the past few years its credibility has been eroded to such an extent that it is now probably at an all time low, possibly irreparably damaged. Let me prove my point.
In the past couple of months we have had a glimpse inside the inner workings of Mepa. This glimpse was provided in two no-punches-pulled interviews in The Times with a serving audit officer and a former official.
The gist of their comments was that they wanted Mepa to be an effective and robust regulatory body, because as things now stand, it is virile with the small fry, and impotent with the big fish.
It has been touted that the Hondoq ir-Rummien project will have "zero impact" on the marine environment. Cynicism apart, this is testament to the clout of the environment lobby, because whereas not so long ago such a project would have been promoted on the strength of its job creating potential, today the developers are trying to sell it as being environmentally beneficial.
This is a desperate, but patently futile attempt by the developers not to raise the ire of the environment lobby. A Policy number TOU 4 of the Structure Plan specifically and unequivocally lays down the areas where tourism related projects can take place on Gozo. Hondoq ir-Rummien is not one of them.
This is not the first time developers have proposed a project that is diametrically opposed to the Structure Plan. It is about time Mepa sends out a clear signal that it will not tolerate any more infringements by rejecting such proposals instantly.
Matters are not being helped by the government either. Despite widespread opposition, including significantly enough by the Chamber of Architects, Parliament recently approved the extension of the building zones under the guise of rationalisation.
The government has run roughshod over Mepa and created an ugly precedent: Hypothetically speaking, a future Labour government, despite its grandstanding on this issue, may very well feel free to do likewise should it suit its needs.
As if this were not enough, there are reasons to believe that the government has surreptitiously removed the Ta' Cenc area from the list of 23 sites designated as Special Areas of Conservation (known as Natura 2000 Sites) as part of its obligations under EU environmental legislation. By its actions the government is sabotaging the Structure Plan to the point of turning it into a document not worth the paper it is printed on. As rightly pointed out in The Times editorial (August 7), Mepa is acting rather bizarrely in this whole affair.
All Mepa has to do to regain public confidence and not remain a taxpayers' money guzzling behemoth is to fall like a ton of bricks on any infringement by the big developers. Unless it does so, they will keep second-guessing its reactions to the detriment of us all.
Toni Farrugia (AD Gozo)
Victoria
posted by Hondoq at
11:17 AM
