When a government’s regulatory agency, which was created to protect the interest of the public, ends up advancing the political or commercial concerns of the very people, companies or entities it is supposed to be regulating, government failure becomes evident. We all have reason to worry when gamekeeper turns poacher or assists the poacher to plunder the common good.
Political and business interests have indeed hijacked the planning process at the expense of the public interest. When the Planning Authority granted a permit for the building of a villa with a swimming pool in an Outside Development Zone in Qala on the pretext that a derelict room in the area was once habitable, the opaque veil that hides how the Planning Authority and its various commissions take planning decisions was thorn for all to see how lack of integrity characterises the operations of an important regulatory authority. This incident is not unique.
A recent exercise by the PA shows that there are 17 illegal batching plants in Malta and Gozo. It seems that many of these plants have been operating for years. Operators of these illegal plants consistently ignore PA’s enforcement notices and have never bothered applying for a permit. Many seem to be entitled to impunity, and the gatekeepers that should protect the interests of law-abiding citizens seem impotent to do much about this sad situation.
Rather than enforcing regulations the PA is mulling over yet another amnesty probably motivated by the need to enable the construction and property development industry to keep blowing up their lucrative activities that show little respect for the protection of the environment. The Malta Developers Association appealed for a “reasonable policy” on batching plants. Not surprisingly, many of the big names in the construction industry are operating illegal plants.
Cutting further through planning policy failure, Infrastructure Minister Ian Borg expressed his frustration at the PA panel that has failed to come up with a recommendation on how to revise the controversial government 2014 policy sanctioning certain developments on ODZ land. The minister criticised the PA panel for only meeting six times since it was set up in 2018. This blaming game is a weak damage limitation exercise on the part of the minister who must have had a say in the appointment of the PA board.
The public uproar that engulfed the process leading to the Gozo villa permit must have spurred Dr Borg to write to the PA Executive Council to show his disappointment. The Council then appointed a lawyer to redraft the 2014 policy. This tactic can only lead to further regulatory and government failure. The redrafting of such an essential piece of legislation that affects various stakeholders, not least the general public, should be an interdisciplinary effort if we are to avoid the development industry tilting regulation in its favour because the government and its authorities’ lawyers that dominate policymaking simply do not understand the various impacts of legislation on the broader community.
Who can blame those who argue that regulations are not about the public interest at all, but is a process by which interest groups seek to promote their private and political interest? Government regulation should always be undertaken to benefit consumers. When private and political interests intervene public interest invariably suffers.