Updated 11am with minister's reply

Environment minister Aaron Farrugia has given his backing to Environment and Resources Authority chairman Victor Axiak after nine NGOs called for him to be sacked. 

Farrugia told Times of Malta he had confidence in Axiak "as a chairperson who always carried out his duties diligently".

Axiak, a biology professor who was appointed chair of the environmental regulator in 2016, has come under fire from environmental groups for what they described as a “spate of abysmal decisions.”

In an open letter to the minister (see below), the NGOs listed a series of ERA decisions that they said ran counter to its mandate of protecting Malta’s environment, and accused Axiak of aligning himself with the interests of "developers and roadbuilders."  

ERA decisions slammed

Those decisions ranged from ERA’s recent decision to allow carob trees to be removed in Dingli to make way for what activists have described as a “road to nowhere”, to the regulator’s failure to object to a roundabout in Burmarrad that has received more than 6,000 objections from members of the public and which activists say is a pretence to build a supermarket there. 

ERA has said it opposes the supermarket plans.

The NGOs listed other decisions to back its calls for Axiak to be moved aside: ERA's recent decision to allow roadworks on Comino, a Natura 2000 site, to proceed following a stop order features, as does the regulator's decision to drop its objections to the redevelopment of a fireworks factory in Dingli, "now that Infrastructure Malta has laid out electricity and water services leading to the 
factory’s site without any permits whatsoever."

The NGOs said that under Axiak’s stewardship, the environmental regulator had acquiesced time and time again to the Transport Ministry’s wishes, adding “it is only natural for us to wonder aloud whether ERA has been secretly taken over by the above-mentioned ministry.” 

“Prof. Axiak has, repeatedly and unashamedly during the last few years, acted and voted against the environmental wellbeing of this country,” the NGOs wrote in the blistering letter. 

Tensions between civil society activists and the ERA chair date back several years, with Axiak having faced a barrage of criticism in 2018 for his decision to vote in favour of db Group plans to build a mega-development at St George's Bay.

Activists made reference to that incident in their letter, saying Axiak had "distinguished himself back in 2018 for his astute defence of the DB Group’s EIA
for their project." 

Axiak: 'I have always followed expert advice' 

Speaking to Times of Malta, Axiak strongly refuted the accusations NGOs made against him but said the minister had a responsibility to remove him if he felt he was unfit for the job.

“I have always followed my conscience and what advice experts in the field have given me when making decisions,” Axiak said.

 “No one has the ability to put me in their pocket, not the NGOs, not politicians, and certainly not developers and that is why my post has made people uncomfortable,” he added.

In the letter, NGOs also made other requests of the minister.

The civil society groups argued that ERA board meetings should be open to the public, with votes not taking place in secret and each board member’s vote “logged and published”. 

NGOs also want the law changed to automatically grant environmental NGOs judicial interest in any appeals to permits filed with the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal – a problem that has complicated NGOs’ attempts to appeal contentious permits. 

The NGOs noted that a 2019 budget measure had capped appeal fees for eNGOs at €1000, saying it was therefore a contradiction for them to then be told that they had no legal standing in such appeals. 

NGOs that want Victor Axiak removed: 

1. Extinction Rebellion Malta
2. Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar
3. Friends of the Earth Malta
4. Malta Youth in Agriculture (MaYA) Foundation
5. Moviment Graffitti
6. Nature Trust Malta
7. Ramblers’ Association Malta
8. Rota
9. The Archaeological Society Malta

Read the NGO letter in the attachment below