Ten ENGOs, which are part of the Gustizzja Ghal Artna campaign, in a joint statement on Sunday referred to reports of recent statements made by Prime Minister Robert Abela regarding the planning sector.

The organisations said that ”on the 2nd of May, Malta Today reported the Prime Minister as saying that the Government and ENGOs had managed to move toward more of a convergence on a number of points in relation to the Planning Reform.”

The ENGOs stated that the ”wish to clarify that there has been no convergence at all with the Government about the proposed Planning Reform. The few revisions that were proposed left a dangerous and unsalvagable reform which should not be presented again.”

The ENGOs said they have recently also made several proposals about the suspension of appeals, the end of sanctioning in ODZ, enforcement against illegalities and the future of rationalisation sites, ”which were not even acknowledged by the Government.”

The ENGOs added that they are also ”extremely concerned about the Prime Minister’s announcement that he would revise the Local Plans if no consensus was reached on the Planning Reform, especially in light of the stated intention of addressing ‘injustices and anomalies’ created by the 2006 revisions.”

The ENGOs noted that the Government and the head of the Planning Authority Johann Buttigieg ”presented a devastating Planning Reform which would have affected the lives of 500,000 people without a single study or impact assessment. Is the same methodology going to be adopted when revising the local plans?”

The organisations pointed out that recently the Government has also been carrying out partial reviews of the Local Plans ”to reward and accommodate certain developers, such as Tal-Franciz in Villa Rosa and the Tal-Malla illegal settlement in Xewkija, in Gozo, to the detriment of the public.”

The ENGOs said they also understand that by addressing ‘injustices and anomalies’ the Prime Minister is ”not referring to the relief of our communities from rampant construction, but to further weaken planning regulations and possibly revise the development boundary so as to include more ODZ land into the development zone, rewarding some of the supporters and donors of the ruling party.”

For these reasons the ENGOs said that they believe that ”the Prime Minister and his political appointees at the Planning Authority do not have the credibility to carry out a review of the Local Plans which is beneficial to the environment of the country, and that such an exercise will likely lead to even more intensive environmental destruction.”

The ENGOs stated that they are ”giving notice that since the Local Plans remain one of the few tools currently restraining predatory overdevelopment, their campaign of resistance will be extended to any revisions of the Local Plans.”

They concluded by saying that ”this will take place until the ENGOs are convinced that the process is being driven by persons of known integrity, is based on scientific studies and is taking due account of public participation.”

The statement is signed by:

Ramblers’ Association of Malta

Moviment Graffitti

Friends of the Earth Malta

BirdLife Malta

Din l-Art Helwa

Nature Trust Malta

Wirt Ghawdex

Ghawdix

Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar

Front Zghazagh ghall-Ambjent.

File photo: Daniel Cilia

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