The former chairman of the Planning Commission, Simon Saliba, has cried foul over his removal, claiming that the move was illegal.
In a judicial protest filed on Thursday against Environment Minister Aaron Farrugia and the Planning Authority, Saliba insisted that his removal was illegal because it did not follow a parliamentary resolution as laid down in the law.
Saliba was removed from his position last November, months after several environmental NGOs called for his removal because he was "siding with developers" during hearings. He served as chair of the commission that decides on applications within development zones. He was replaced by Claude Mallia.
In his protest, Saliba quoted a provision of the Development Planning Act which states that the independent members may resign but may not be removed from office except by a resolution of the House of Representatives on the ground of misconduct or inability to perform the duties of their office. He said he had never been found guilty of any misconduct and the decision went beyond the minister’s legal power or authority.
He said he had not even been given the opportunity to defend himself from any accusation of wrongdoing and had been removed summarily and in a prejudicial fashion.
Saliba was appointed in January 2019 by Transport Minister Ian Borg and signed a four-year contract on April 22. However, following a cabinet reshuffle, the political responsibility for the Planning Authority passed to Environment Minister Aaron Farrugia.
Saliba said that on November 18 last year, he received a two-line letter informing him of his removal, and his appointment to serve as a member of the PA's regularisation committee. The letter, he said, was sent to the media before it reached him.
He warned of further judicial action if the decision to remove him was not withdrawn immediately.
Lawyer Louise Anne Pulis signed the protest.
Saliba’s removal was the second major shake-up of planning commissions announced within months, following the removal of Elizabeth Ellul as chair of the Outside Development Zone board.
Ellul was removed following a series of controversies concerning approved projects in ODZ areas. She now chairs the regularisation committee.
Civil society anger towards Saliba bubbled to the surface in July, when 11 organisations called for his removal as chairperson "for obstructing the right to a fair planning process".
The NGOs had insisted that he consistently showed disrespect for residents and other objectors during Planning Authority sittings and "has often openly and aggressively sided with the developers instead of fulfilling his role as an impartial arbitrator".
According to the organisations, one of his first big hearings was the Balluta ferry pontoon application, when his declared decision to refuse the permit was "hastily changed to an approval during a session in which he bizarrely appeared to be acting as lawyer for the developers".
They had also flagged an incident during which Saliba cut off the microphone of an activist who was finishing an intervention against the building of apartments on a site of archaeological importance in Kalkara.