Depending on which side of the political spectrum you place yourself, you may believe that the government has made great strides to improve governance or, indeed, you may believe it has been forced to do so by the international community and local activists. You may believe that the institutions are now working and that the excesses of cronyism, sleaze and corruption are now being tackled.
The bottom line is that there has been an improvement in governance.
Appointments of key figures like the attorney general, the commissioner of police and heads of other key institutions are now not made at the pleasure of the prime minister but have to go through a process, which, at least on paper, makes them independent.
There is, however, one critical institution where the stench of cronyism, influence and maladministration has, unfortunately, not yet wafted away and which continues to function as before, for the benefit of the few and the detriment of the community and, indeed, of future generations.
The Planning Authority was set up in 1989 to regulate the building development in the country. It came after years of speculation and corruption which especially benefited a few who were able to buy land outside development zones at cheap prices and could see their investment rise spectacularly as the areas were brought ‘within scheme’.
Those of us who were fighting for the environment in those days heaved a huge sigh of relief when it was set up – all development was to be mapped out, experts were to be engaged, studies carried out and local plans for each area drafted. The planning process was to be pulled out of politicians’ hands – those who had proved so inept (to be kind) at protecting the small land mass allocated to this half a million people.
Politicians also promised more protection for our natural and cultural assets. The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage was set up, the Environment Resources Authority, Ambjent Malta. We have the Public Domain Act, national sustainable development plans, Eco Gozo, the Natura 2000 sites and a myriad of international and national legislation all meant to protect our common heritage.
This has turned out to be a massive smokescreen. Meddling in the planning process has continued, to a greater or lesser extent, since the Planning Authority was set up. But things were set to get worse.
Gozo is now seen as the next site to plunder and the PA is right behind the speculators- Martin Galea
In 2015, the government sought to overhaul the planning legislation and introduce a new planning approach based on SPED or Strategic Plan for the Environment and Development, instead of the previous Structure Plan. In my opinion, this was a deliberate dismantling of the safeguards designed to protect our natural and cultural assets and allowed greater exploitation by the ever-hungry development lobby. All the environmental groups said so at the time.
The new Annex 2 of the Development Control Design Policy, Guidance and Standards 2015 led to the relaxed building heights while the rural development policy of 2014 allowed building previously disallowed in the countryside. Worse, boards were filled with persons who would ensure that the interpretation of the planning regulations would be weighted in the developers’ favour, with no regard to sustainability, aesthetics or the impact on peoples’ lives.
If a planning appeal were made, it would be adjudicated by an employee of the Planning Authority (technically on leave).
The stage was set for a wholesale plundering of the country’s very limited open areas as well as demolition of the vernacular in village cores and the outrageous building of massively out-of-scale apartment blocks in every town and village of Malta and Gozo.
To compound the problem, the principles of good governance were also, shall we say, relaxed. The role of chairman and CEO, normally kept separate to ensure separation of duties, were merged into one role – the executive chairman, who now wields enormous power, with the role of the Planning Board diluted and further devolved to the Executive Council or Planning Commissions, thus ensuring the ‘right outcome’.
And we have now arrived at the stage where all the mayors in Gozo, coupled with the Gozo Tourism Association and the Gozo Business Chamber have condemned the Planning Authority for the excess of development and poor planning. Only in this country could there be such united opposition to the wholesale destruction with absolutely no action being taken by the government.
This is an absolutely disgraceful state of affairs, which has been deliberately left uncorrected and has now reached intolerable heights. Gozo is now seen as the next site to plunder and the Planning Authority is right behind the speculators, bending building-height restrictions and finding excuses to allow permits and turn our sister island into a replica of the excesses of development in Malta.
The government must take action now to stop the rot and, until then, to stop repeating the lie that this institution, at least, is working – it is not!
Martin Galea, council member, Din l-Art Ħelwa