The landslide victory at the polls gave Robert Abela more elbow room to pick trusted and familiar faces, although this did not translate into a smaller cabinet of ministers.
Most notably, former transport minister Ian Borg was ‘sidelined’ to the foreign affairs remit, a choice which can only be explained as an ulterior demotion of the hyperactive, controversial young minister whose abrasive way of “getting things done” has rankled many inside Labour.
Borg – who had also handled planning and lands until Abela became prime minister – was replaced by district rival Aaron Farrugia, who, in turn, saw his environment portfolio moved on to Miriam Dalli.
Tellingly, however, planning was not bundled in with the environment. Abela, instead, opted to create a ministry for planning and public works, appointing Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi at its helm.
Farrugia moves to transport after a two-year stint at the helm of the environment ministry.
Despite a promising start, with the review of the maligned fuel station policy on his 100th day in office, Farrugia went on to disappoint environmentalists in pretty much the same way as his predecessor did.
The Planning Authority has been constantly in the limelight for the wrong reasons.
For example, Farrugia failed to act decisively in the face of irregular processes employed by the authority in the issuing of permits to Joseph Portelli, who has numerous interests in the minister’s Ħamrun constituency.
Week in, week out, the authority has continued in its drive to favour developers and ignore residents, with the PA going so far as trying to hide data about the public’s objections.
CEO Martin Saliba, appointed by Borg, is responsible for the PA’s maladministration, where it has the role of a rubber-stamping authority for any sort of project.
On the other hand, the size of the transport ministry may have scared off a few ministers.
Not only is the ministry staffed by people loyal to Borg but its agencies – Infrastructure Malta first and foremost – have been repeatedly singled out for arrogance and bulldozing its way, irrespective of the laws.
Abela’s decision to hand transport and planning to Farrugia and Zrinzo Azzopardi may be seen as a move to keep hot potatoes away from the hands of more popular ministers.
Another minister facing a daunting task is Dalli, now minister for the environment.
Dalli has the uneasy job of injecting life into a lethargic ministry which has not gone beyond some cosmetic initiatives. The need for reforms is clear here too: the Environment and Resources Authority, under Victor Axiak, has shown itself to be complacent on many an occasion, with the authority often voting in favour of developers or roadbuilders during PA board meetings.
The environment ministry needs vision. We need to go beyond occasional sprucing up of abandoned areas to turn them into gardens.
Now that the Labour government claims to have recognised the importance of our ‘quality of life’, it’s on Dalli to turn big plans and big figures into tangible well-being. Some areas of this small island are beyond redemption but the country can finally heave a sigh of relief if some of Labour’s environmental pledges are prioritised.
Dalli is also minister for energy. She needs precisely that to steer the environment ministry away from a greenwashing authority into a strong regulator and begin to change the pro-development mentalities that have plagued that very quality of life.