Lawyer challenges claim that Blue Lagoon carrying capacity study is confidential
PN MP says classification of document as secret is last-ditch attempt to hide study from the public
A lawyer wants to challenge the government’s decision not to publish the Blue Lagoon carrying capacity study, at the European Court, as the government insists that the study that determines how many people Comino can handle, is a confidential document.
While lawyer Claire Bonello is arguing that the carrying capacity study is part of the government’s EU obligations for Natura 2000 sites like Comino, the Environment Resource Authority argues that the study was made for the eyes of the cabinet only and therefore can remain secret.
The issue was brought to light in parliament on Wednesday by PN MP Rebekah Borg.
She questioned how the study could be classed as a confidential document, when it was a pre-requisite of the Comino management plan completed back in 2014, as required by European law that concerns Natura 2000 sites.
In 2023, Bonello filed a Freedom of Information Request to ERA requesting the study after environmental consultants AIS were given a direct order to carry out the study.
AIS even said that they had uploaded the study on their websites, court submissions by Bonello said.
The FOI request was denied, with ERA citing the law which states that cabinet documents are secret.
Bonello then appealed the decision at the Environmental and Planning Review Tribunal. There, she argued that the document was part of the ecological site’s management plan, which had tasked ERA with the carrying capacity study.
As proof, ERA filed an email by Cabinet Secretary Ryan Spagnol dated April 2024.
In it, Spagnol says that the Comino Management Committee was set up following a Cabinet decision and should report back to the Cabinet.
“The Comino Carrying Capacity Study was drafted for this purpose, and it was eventually submitted to the Cabinet for further consideration,” the email said.
The tribunal ruled in favour of ERA on January 15.
Bonello is now appealing that decision, arguing that because the carrying capacity study is part of Comino’s management plan, and because management plans for Natura 2000 sites are from the EU’s habitat’s directive the EU court should decide whether the study is published.
She has now asked the Maltese Court of Appeal to consult the European Court of Justice on the matter. She is also asking the court to rule in favour of her request to be given a copy of the carrying capacity study.
In parliament, Borg said the decision to classify the carrying capacity as a confidential document set a worrying and dangerous precedent, adding that any document the government did not want the public to have access to could be treated in a similar way.
“The government only came up with this excuse after the FOI requests as well as several parliamentary questions, because it had no other way out,” she said.