No guarantee against power of incumbency - Alfred Sant

Labour MP Alfred Sant said yesterday that the proposed Mepa reform was superficial and cosmetic and, above all, did not offer any guarantee against the power of incumbency.

Speaking during the debate in second reading of the Environment and Development Planning Bill, Dr Sant said that the current planning authority had served as a smokescreen for decisions taken as a result of political pressure to meet clienteles' aims.

He said politicians had found a way to implement their decisions without being held responsible for them by appointing "yes-men" on the different boards. This had been evident when Mepa independent boards were used by the government to gain votes before the election. When the planning commission resigned the Prime Minister had immediately appointed members of the same political belief to continue this process.

The Bill did not give any guarantee that this would not happen again.

In introducing the Bill the government had brought forward the same reasons and objectives as happened when the Planning Authority had been formed 18 years ago. The main thrust was that planning should be left to technocrats with a balance between development and environment protection without the need of political control.

Dr Sant said that as had happened then, the present Bill could not ensure that cases of corruption or abuse of power would be cancelled. Over the years the opposition had been vindicated on its calls for transparency. But arbitrary decisions had continued to be taken.

By 1996 allegations of corruption and scandals had been rampant and bureaucracy was supreme. The Labour government, which had tried to change things, had found resistance for partisan political reasons.

After 1998, Mepa had again become an institution where incompetence, corruption and inefficiency greatly increased. This had led to the Nationalist electoral promise of reforming Mepa.

Dr Sant said the Mistra scandal was a fine example of how Mepa was ready to approve proposals which went against all planning regulations, with the government's and the private sector's blessing. He claimed that the "re-foundation" of Mepa was not a constructive reform but a "political firefighting exercise".

The proposed changes were nothing but "patchwork".

The Bill lacked a deep, critical and radical analysis of what should guide decisions in the public sector and the vision on how land and its use were linked to economic, social and political aims. It proposed structures which strengthened technocrats in implementing policies but did not give any guarantee that these would always be honest persons of integrity and not prone to corruption.

There was lack of integrity within Mepa. Certain major contractors always managed to get their way. What was needed, said Dr Sant, were structures that fostered a culture of genuine integrity, with people in the institution having personal and administrative skills of integrity and fair play.

The sector needed a strong moral base because for too long Mepa had been riddled with cases of incompetence, abuse of power, favouritism, piecemeal decisions and cases on which decisions took too long.

There was a vacuum in the strategic national planning framework.

Mepa had no real strategic plan, as evidenced in major projects such as the Valletta Opera House, the Freeport and the golf course.

Dr Sant said that the country was losing its competitiveness and needed new investment to renew its capabilities. Piecemeal initiatives were not satisfactory. There was an urgent need of an integrated and strategic plan and framework incorporating Mepa functions and land use.

There were times where compromises had to be reached between development and environmental protection, but this had to be exercised only in the national interest and in a transparent manner.

He added that the present golf course needed upgrading and there was need for another in Gozo. Links with Gozo by sea transport had to remain, but a helicopter subsidised service was needed. Various public and private sectors had been dominated by social cliques that took advantage of political power.

These were accompanied by public and commercial media circles, which were predominant, and by social networks which influenced what decisions and opinions were reached. This was common in a small insular society.

These circles, said Dr Sant, had found their solution in GonziPN.

This made the need of morality in public office paramount as also justice, accountability, political responsibility and ethics.