An environmental NGO said it is holding the prime minister to account on his pledge that the government is prepared to take difficult but desperately needed decisions on the environment and quality of life. 

In the wake of a weakened Labour majority, Robert Abela said the time had come for his government to take decisions which have been postponed for too long, though he refrained from giving details. 

In a statement, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar said the key test begins with dropping the proposed amendments to policy 35 of DC15 currently open for public consultation. 

FAA warned that this amendment will add to Malta’s overdevelopment, and potentially destroy Malta’s traditional town and village streetscapes by allowing the redevelopment of townhouses into 5 and 6-storey pencil developments, increasing Malta’s urban congestion.  

"The destruction of Malta's traditional architecture and urban fabric by this abusive policy remains one of the primary challenges facing the country."

Just as the prime minister has spoken up against specific development projects, it would be expected that this new resolution would similarly put the brakes on damaging projects, the NGO said.

On the contrary, soon after the Prime Minister’s pronouncement, the "abusive" permit was issued to developers to redevelop Villa St Ignatius, an historic site, in the Sliema/St Julian’s Urban Conservation Area into a modern hotel.

FAA called for the implementation of long-overdue carrying capacity studies to assess whether major projects and further general development can be supported by the existing infrastructure, and establish the maximum population that a given area can sustain.

FAA also called for a temporary moratorium on major tourism projects, to allow for serious study of the implications of having to double Malta’s tourist intake to fill the great number of new hotels being planned.

The NGO also called for a halt to the public expenditure on infrastructural upgrades and environmental degradation – noise, emissions and occupation of public land - being made to accommodate private, speculative developments. 

FAA demanded concrete action to address the growing sense of disillusionment citizens have in the entire political system, which serves a few crooked business interests at the expense of the majority.

Party financing reform is required to establish a level playing field between Malta's political parties, so that business people can no longer buy influence while independent politicians and parties can flourish, it said.