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A MEPA Board member resigned this week ostensibly for personal reasons, but soon after two front page stories appeared in MaltaToday and shortly after environment minister George Pullicino told this newspaper he was gathering information about him.
Ronald Azzopardi 43, from Rabat but resident in Sliema is believed to be the first and only MEPA member to resign following investigative stories in a newspaper.
MaltaToday asked Pullicino why Azzopardi has been kept on the MEPA Board since 1998 when he was a business partner and related by marriage to a man who regularly submits planning applications for large projects to MEPA.
Pullicino replied: “It is normal practice for all MEPA Board members to declare their interest whenever a case arises during the course of the Board’s business. The Minister is informed by the Chairman of MEPA that Mr Ronald Azzopardi, like all other members, followed this procedure scrupulously and also did not participate in any decision process when and if the case arose.
Asked whether his ministry was considering changing procedures for the appointment and scrutiny of MEPA Board members, a spokesperson for Pullicino said:
“The Minister for Rural Affairs and the Environment stated in Parliament during the MEPA budget speech, in November 2004, that there is a need for a revision of the Code of Ethics for all MEPA Officials. In fact, this is currently being reviewed by the Audit Officer.”
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