Joseph Muscat has denied that a conflict of interest existed on the tribunal hearing appeals against the planning authority when it was chaired by his appointee, an employee of the same authority.
The then prime minister had handpicked Martin Saliba for the role of Environment and Planning Review Tribunal chairman in 2013 and re-appointed him in 2017.
Saliba was made executive chairman of the PA in November 2019, during the last few weeks of Muscat’s tenure.
Environmental NGOs have expressed outrage after Times of Malta revealed that to maintain his job security, Saliba took unpaid leave from the PA when he was appointed to chair the tribunal.
The NGOs have hinted at plans to challenge some of the tribunal’s major decisions, such as the greenlighting of the Central Link project and the Quad Towers development in Mrieħel.
Replying to questions, Muscat insisted that the role of tribunal chairman required a set of skills and experience that were not easily found in Malta.
He said Saliba was undoubtedly qualified for the role and there was nothing to indicate that his employment with the authority, from which he had taken a leave of absence, undermined the legal basis of the appointment.
Government needs to decide who would be held politically responsible
Muscat did not reply directly when asked if he knew Saliba had remained on the PA’s books throughout his appointment to the tribunal.
Saliba paid from a central government source - Muscat
The former prime minister said that during his tenure, Saliba was not paid by the PA but from a “central government source” that was probably the consolidated fund.
“This means that the outcome of the tribunal’s decisions could in no way affect Saliba’s financial independence. To the objective observer, therefore, Saliba had no direct or indirect interest that could affect his impartiality.”
Muscat said in practice, the board led by Saliba was widely praised as effective and independent, and his reappointment in 2017 was “generally welcomed”.
In a statement on Friday, the Nationalist Party said Environment Minister Aaron Farrugia must ensure that such a situation does not repeat itself.
This needed to be ensured so that all citizens could rest assured that all decisions taken by the tribunal about appeals against the PA are impartial “without any doubt that the decision-maker may have a conflict”.
The party, through MPs Kevin Cutajar and David Thake, said the government and Farrugia needed to decide who would be held politically responsible if past decisions taken by the tribunal Saliba chaired were contested.
“The Maltese people have the right to have the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal run and be formed by people who are independent and impartial of the Planning Authority,” they said.