No appointment should generate headlines such as ‘Back from the skip of history’. But that is what happened when the reappointment of Johann Buttigieg to the Planning Authority was announced on Tuesday.
His dismal track record and the timing of this appointment should have automatically ruled him out.
Never has the country so sorely needed a PA that could lead, monitor and enforce. Instead, we have an entity that was described last August by the Nationalist Party as the ‘Permits Authority’ – so arrogant that it can act as though it is above the law.
The PA ignored recommendations made by the ombudsman and made a mockery of the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage. It ignored the recommendations of its own case officers and taken unexplained and inexplicable decisions with regard to mega-projects, high-rise zones and World Heritage Sites. But even more worrying was its inability to curtail illegal developments, even those that violated its own planning policies.
The latest proof of its incompetence was its decision to sanction properties even after the Court of Appeal – no less – found that the permit should not have been given in the first place.
And most of the challenges now facing the island with regard to construction, pollution, traffic and drainage lie squarely in its lap. NGO Din l-Art Ħelwa wants development to be suspended until the appeals process is complete, to avoid re-occurrence of issues like the scandalous Sannat penthouses.
The government is proposing to change the local plans, which requires tremendous empathy for the unintended consequences, while changes to the height limitation policy could enable even more of our urban fabric to be ruined forever. These issues are a major concern for people who already feel their standard of living is under threat.
And, yet, it has now brought Buttigieg back because the PA has been struggling to get to grips with the escalating backlog of planning permits. And once again the government believes nobody else but Buttigieg is competent enough to do that job.
A former case officer, Buttigieg was appointed the PA chief executive in June 2013 shortly after Labour came to power, and soon promoted to executive chairperson.
His tenure was fraught with controversy: in 2014, DLĦ raised the potential conflict of interest in the wake of illegal development at San Blas, in Gozo in which Buttigieg’s wife was involved.
There were also claims of sensitive leaks about large projects. He also decided to fly in a PA board member who voted in favour of the controversial Pembroke development.
It gets worse. His inability to maintain even a modicum of independence was highlighted by his 2019 WhatsApp messages to Yorgen Fenech, indicating willingness to do business with him.
After leaving the PA and moving to the MTA in 2019, Buttigieg handed Konrad Mizzi an €80,000 consultancy contract, just a fortnight after Mizzi stepped down as tourism minister at the height of the political crisis. This is the man once again at the helm of the PA.
Last July, a Times of Malta editorial warned against appointments based on politics rather than merit, saying that: “Rather than bringing innovation, fresh air and new approaches to governance that could lead to better public administration, cronies tend to be no more than their master’s voice.”
Now more than ever, the PA needs a firm, independent and visionary leader who can stand up to corruption and interference, insist on best practice and remotivate the staff so desperately trying to do their jobs. What on earth qualifies Buttigieg for that position?