The Planning Authority had failed to follow through on an order to change a 2014 policy making it easier for rural ruins to be turned into villas, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said on Sunday. 

Addressing a political activity in Nadur, Dr Muscat weighed in on the uproar about a PA decision to grant Gozitan developer Joseph Portelli a permit to turn a small countryside room in Qala into a sprawling villa. 

Dr Muscat acknowledged the criticism about the decision, which also came from Labour quarters, including the PL-led Qala local council. 

He said although the decision was technically correct, the rules that allowed it were clearly not. 

Mr Portelli said on Saturday that he would be renouncing the permit. 

The Prime Minister said the PA had been instructed to change the 2014 policy over a year ago. 

He said numerous internal meetings had taken place within the PA, including meetings with the Opposition’s representative and NGOs, but a year-and-a-half later, the policy remained unchanged. 

Dr Muscat noted that the PA is an independent authority and took its decisions without any interference, yet the government still took the flak for them. 

The PA’s executive chairman Johann Buttigieg stepped down from the role in October. 

Muscat welcomes Archbishop’s ‘symbolic gesture’ 

Dr Muscat welcomed Archbishop Charles Scicluna’s “symbolic gesture” of blessing the tombs of Labour supporters who were interdicted by the church in the 1960s. 

The Prime Minister thanked the Archbishop for taking this “courageous step” and said he was always willing to extend the hand of friendship to the church. 

Dr Muscat said many of those who had been interdicted did not even have the dignity of a normal funeral. He said the Labour party had many of its fathers and mothers buried in a non-consecrated section of the cemetery. 

Many people were made to feel like they had to choose between being a Labourite or a Christian, Dr Muscat said. 

He said the passage of time had helped heal these wounds, but they had never been fully closed, Dr Muscat said. 

Dr Muscat said the Church and State had complementary roles, not conflicting ones. 

He took a swipe at the Archbishop for not speaking up strongly against those members of the church who were sowing hate against foreigners. 

“I have spoken to the Archbishop and told him I was disappointed the church was not strong enough [on this issue]. 

The church has so far shied away from taking any action against a priest who has praised Nazi sympathiser Norman Lowell and stirred up anti-foreign rhetoric. 

Dr Muscat did not mention Fr David Muscat by name, but his appeal came two days after Fr Muscat’s latest public appearance on a Xarabank debate about migration. 

More ferry concessions to come

The Prime Minister also spoke about plans to make internal transport by sea more accessible. 

He said thousands of Maltese are already travelling between Sliema and Valletta by ferry. 

Dr Muscat said sea transport was more sustainable and resulted in less traffic congestion. 

Plans were in the pipeline to offer sea transport concessions in Marsascala, Marsaxlokk and St Paul’s Bay. 

News about these planned concessions came just days after Dr Muscat presided over an announcement by businessman Edward Zammit Tabona that Fortina investments would be pumping €20 million into four new vessels to benefit tourists and commuters alike. 

Objections to a ferry berthing facility proposed by the Fortina group in St Julian’s have been mounting in the past days. 

St Julian’s mayor Albert Buttigieg has said the proposed berthing facility risks turning the area into another “Sliema ferries”.