Mepa: A bulwark against abuse

Din l-Art Helwa has followed with interest the recent exchanges between officials and ex-ministers on the responsibilities of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (Mepa).

Let me say at the outset that it is disappointing that the Minister for the Environment personally has been silent on this issue, given that accusations of such gravity have been levelled at the competence, integrity and purpose of Mepa by fellow politicians and ex-colleagues of his. These go right to the heart of how environmental and development planning in Malta is conducted and in most parliamentary democracies the criticisms would have elicited a response from him. Is this another example of ministers leading from the rear?

Let me also acknowledge that Din l-Art Helwa has itself joined in criticism of Mepa from time to time. But we recognise that Mepa is Malta's only bulwark against abuse - most especially, political abuse - and we therefore value it accordingly. Our criticisms are founded on a wish to see Mepa strengthened, not weakened. They are based on a realisation that, in the final analysis, Mepa and its planning boards and development commissions consist of fallible human beings making decisions often under stressful conditions, having to sift through competing arguments and sometimes subjective and conflicting evidence.

In an excellent article in Din l-Art Helwa's magazine, Vigilo, Mepa expressed their position eloquently thus: "We continually negotiate between society and landscape, man and nature, the past and our children's future. To do this we navigate between competing interests; lobby groups, controversial projects, economic demands, political agendas and even conflicting lifestyles. We are aided by an array of policies and plans, extensive legislation and international conventions. We have obligations to consult all and sundry and to operate a transparent planning system that aims at sustainable development in an island state that has one of the densest populations in the world. Yet, when all is said and done, and the time comes for decision making, it is very rare to find clear-cut solutions to controversies. And while we may appeal to ideals, it is our decisions which are real, and it is our decisions with which we must live."

Naturally, Din l-Art Helwa would wish to see a battery of regulatory changes introduced - which would be legally binding on individual Mepa board members - to make more efficient land use; to halt the deterioration of our village and old town cores; to protect the traditional character and setting of urban conservation areas; to define more tightly our rural conservation areas; to re-introduce aesthetic standards in our architecture. We would wish to see environmental NGOs represented on Mepa boards, rather than political appointees and government place-men. We would dearly love to see increased efficiency and effectiveness, including the allocation of greater resources to Mepa.

Above all, we would like to see a National Strategic Plan for Sustainable Development urgently introduced that imposes stability by stating in effect "So far and no further" - to shift the balance of argument rigorously against further development outside specified areas. In Mepa's own words: "It is no exaggeration to say that the economic, social and environmental future of our country depends on the wise use of our land resources". This is the paramount challenge of a national plan for sustainable development.

But political pressure or interference in the way Mepa operates is not the answer. The two recent ex-ministerial interventions follow in the wake of one by the Leader of the Opposition some 18 months ago when he implied that there might be circumstances in which he would choose to by-pass Mepa in a future government of his. Such approaches must be resisted.

The bold decision taken by the government 11 years ago to delegate land use decisions to an independent body was as right then as it was visionary. It set in motion a seismic cultural change for the better whose message was that politicians - here today, gone tomorrow - should not tamper with our land (Din l-Art Helwa, indeed) on a whim, for a political caprice.

Warts and all, Mepa is our bulwark against abuse.

Mr Scicluna is executive president, Din l-Art Helwa.