Ten organisations, in a joint statement on Friday have accused Prime Minister Robert Abela of “failing yet again to reform planning appeals and also refusing to meet with NGOs.”

The organisations argued that “last Tuesday, Prime Minister Robert Abela was busy titillating developers with the prospect of changes to the Local Plans that would open the floodgates for even more construction on every corner of our islands.”

Meanwhile, they insisted that, “the Prime Minister continues to take the Maltese people for a ride with unfulfilled promises of reform in the planning appeals law, which currently allows developers to build without a definitive permit.”

The organisations pointed out that “this reform was first promised by the Prime Minister as far back as May last year and has been reiterated numerous times since.”

Following a press conference outside Castille at the end of August this year, a coalition of NGOs and residents’ groups formally requested an urgent meeting with the Prime Minister and the Planning Minister to discuss two very serious issues.

“The first of these is the mushrooming of illegal structures that, despite having their permits revoked by the Court, are often completed while appeals are still underway. The second relates to the Planning Authority’s blatant disregard for Court rulings, with permits being issued for developments already deemed illegal by the Court,” the organisations.

They stated that “Planning Minister, Clint Camilleri, responded to this request by rejecting the proposed meeting with the NGOs and failing to even acknowledge the Planning Authority’s defiance of Court rulings.”

However, the organisations added that “he did promise that by the end of September, a draft reform of the appeals law would be presented to the NGOs. It is now late November, and there is still no sign of this long-overdue reform.”

They highlighted that “residents and organisations continue to shoulder the burden of challenging the Planning Authority’s abusive decisions in court. Yet, even these efforts are often rendered futile, as developers are allowed to proceed with construction in the interim, and no action is taken to remove illegal structures after their permits are revoked.”

The organisations warned that “this has led to a proliferation of illegal buildings across Malta and Gozo, such as Joseph Portelli’s illegal pools in Qala’s ODZ and his unlawful penthouses in Sannat.”

“The Government’s refusal to reform such a blatantly unjust provision within the law, while simultaneously bending over backwards to serve developers’ interests, is truly alarming,” they said.

The organisations concluded by warning that “by prioritising private profits over governance, the Government is shamelessly trashing our quality of life, undermining our democracy, and sacrificing our islands to the forces of greed.”

The ten organisations endorsed the statement:

Azzjoni: Tuna Artna Lura

BirdLife Malta

Din l-Art Helwa

Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar

Ghawdix

Moviment Graffitti

Nature Trust Malta

Ramblers’ Association Malta

Wirt Ghawdex

The Archaeological Society Malta.

Photo: Moviment Graffitti

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