Revoke permits for application breaches - FAA

Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar has welcomed news of the mass resignation of a Malta Environment and Planning Authority board following the publication of a damning report.

Mepa's Outside Development Zone (ODZ) Board resigned last week following the publication of Mepa auditor Joe Falzon's report highlighting the irregularities that accompanied the granting of a permit for a supermarket and car park in Safi on "good, cultivated agricultural land".

Regrettably, FAA said in a statement, these fields had already been ruined and rubble walls destroyed as the area was bulldozed as soon as the permit was issued.

The NGO called for the immediate rehabilitation of the site to a state as close as possible to its original condition. This legalised vandalism shows that it is of utmost importance that as soon as a new legislature is formed, the amendments to the Development Planning Act to prevent such practices should be passed with urgency.

FAA said it shared the auditor's concern that the granting of this permit set a dangerous precedent for further ODZ development, and that this mega-developer was spared the monitoring conditions that were imposed on a state school in the same area. FAA said the resignation of the board hopefully showed that authority divisions were beginning to take responsiblity for their actions.

On grounds of urgency and on behalf of what remains of Maltese rural and urban heritage, FAA urged an immediate review of the Development Planning Act to incorporate the final recommendation of the authority's internal auditor to allow for the withdrawal or modification of a permit where an application has been approved contrary to policy.FAA also noted the 'highly irregular works' at Fort Cambridge and Smart City in Ricasoli, which have started while still awaiting the results of environmental impact assessments.