NGOs are stunned by the Planning Authority’s backseat approach to the construction situation and have called out the regulator, claiming he is abdicating his responsibility.

The organisations hit out at the authority chairman’s “inertia”,  saying he was legitimising the status quo.

They were reacting to a statement made by PA executive chairman Martin Saliba in which he blamed “strong demand” for the feverish pace of development and described the construction frenzy as a necessary evil to achieve economic strength. 

“Planning is trying to anticipate future needs and propose measures to guide development. Saliba does not even hint at this role of his Authority,” Alex Torpiano, president of NGO Din l-Art Ħelwa, said.

He also criticised Saliba’s suggestion that Malta’s economy cannot do without unbridled construction.

“Kickstarting the economy by encouraging the construction industry is legitimate but continuing to feed the frenzy, when, in the last three years, the economy is roaring is clearly insane,” he said.

Astrid Vella, coordinator of NGO Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, also shot down Saliba’s argument that the current pace of development was necessary for the country’s economic growth.

Construction – a necessary evil to achieve economic strength

“Saliba claims to be ‘moving Malta into a modern era’ with an outdated mindset that development is Malta’s only resource when, in fact, it is tourism that is the pillar of our economy, which is being undermined by overdevelopment,” she said.

“He mentions other Mediterranean wealthy locations, failing to say that places like Barcelona, Portofino, Dubrovnik and Taormina have not allowed the wholesale uglification permitted in Malta and Gozo,” she said.

Chamber of Architects president André Pizzuto also voiced his dismay at the complacency expressed by Saliba, saying it clearly displayed oversight of the importance of development planning.

“Just because the permits are being issued according to policy, as Saliba underlines, it doesn’t mean we are not facing a crisis due to complete absence of planning,” he said.

Pizzuto explained that modernising or developing does not need to have a slapdash outcome, as is clearly illustrated in major cities like Dubai or Singapore, which incorporated topnotch planning.

Moviment Graffitti said that Saliba’s dismissive attitude to the current rampage made it clear the Planning Authority’s role was to appease the greed of developers at the cost of rights of common citizens.

“Saliba is yet another manifestation of a dark reality: the institutions are working for people with money and business oriented... not for the public good,” spokesperson André Callus said.

“Meantime, our quality of life is declining, our landscapes ruined and towns becoming increasingly unbearable with construction happening everywhere. But the PA is blind to this reality,” he said.