|
Matthew Vella
A saga at the heart of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority came to an end this week in court, in a case amongst several still pending, exposing the mishandling of a planning application involving architects from a minister’s firm – Sant & Mugliett – a partner of which is Jesmond Mugliett, minister for roads.
MEPA director general Godwin Cassar was cleared of criminally libelling his own head of legal services, Anthony Degaetano, for issuing a written warning accusing him of submitting a false report to the authority in his right as a private citizen.
Degaetano’s report on the other hand, was confirmed by Magistrate Jacqueline Padovani Grima to have not been “false, untrue, erroneous, incorrect or wrong,” as the verbose declaration read.
The MEPA lawyer was accused by Cassar of having submitted a false report to the authority, and was disciplined by the authority without being given the chance to defend himself.
Earlier this year, Judge Geoffrey Valenzia found that the “minimum principle of natural justice” was not followed in the procedures against Degaetano.
Magistrate Padovani Grima said last week that the written warning issued by Cassar could not be deemed “a vague accusation”.
But Degaetano’s lengthy testimony in the procedures brought by the police against Cassar detailed a five-year saga on the mishandling of the MEPA process with respect to the illegal works going on at his neighbour’s house.
Degaetano’s complaint
MEPA chief lawyer Anthony Degaetano secured a court injunction against the environment and planning authority in September 2000 to stop its development control commission (DCC) from issuing a permit to sanction works at his neighbour’s house.
The works had left his house wall exposed to the elements after an adjacent room in his neighbour’s house was dropped down, to make way for a yard – the wall had not been reinforced by another wall, presenting a sanitary risk.
After his neighbours were ordered to stop by MEPA enforcement officers however, Degaetano was told by a case officer at the authority that a permit was being issued to legitimise the works.
When the lawyer asked how such a permit could be issued when no formal application had been made, as required by law, the case officer replied he had received a letter from the neighbour’s architect Etienne Magri, from Sant & Mugliett, asking to “clarify very minor adjustments” to the original application.
The letter was received at the authority on 5 September, 2000, and the case officer asked the architect to collect the permit three days later. In a bid to stop the DCC from issuing the permit, which had not been covered by a formal application to allow for objections from third parties, Degaetano secured a court injunction on the process.
MP confirms irregularities
In court, a member from the MEPA board – Labour MP Joe Mizzi – acknowledged much of Degaetano’s testimony, who in September 2000 had written to the Commissioner of Police to investigate his neighbours on the falsification of the architect’s plans covering their application, claiming they had misrepresented the changes submitted in their original planning application.
In his testimony, Mizzi told the Court he had been informed “of a parliamentary secretary who had pressured an enforcement officer not to take steps against somebody who had broken the planning laws.” Mizzi said he investigated the matter in which he had “found some things which looked irregular.”
He claimed in court that he found architect’s plans that had been “tampered with”. He also said the parliamentary secretary had brought up the matter of a “high MEPA official” who had been “abusing his position” in parliament, referring to Degaetano. In other testimonies by Degaetano and former MEPA public relations officer Ivan Fenech, it is Jesmond Mugliett who is shown as having brought the matter up in parliament.
Mizzi told the Court he had insisted with the MEPA board to “say the truth” and that “things had been said that the lawyer’s court action against the authority was incorrect since he was a MEPA employee.”
Mizzi claimed a frame-up was at hand, since the MEPA board had to investigate an alleged false report submitted by Degaetano, but that the lawyer had already been found guilty before any investigation was carried out.
Guilty without proof
Degaetano was in fact accused by MEPA director-general Godwin Cassar of submitting a false report on 19 January 2001, when works had continued at his neighbour’s house despite being under an enforcement order.
Accused of “unacceptable behaviour”, Degaetano wrote back saying that according to the collective agreement, he had the right to defend himself after seeing all evidence being brought against him.
On 24 January Degaetano received a letter from Cassar saying he had been found guilty of submitting a false report. When he wrote back demanding to see the evidence against him, saying he would proceed with legal action, Cassar wrote back on 2 February saying the threats of criminal libel were “totally unacceptable”, and that if he persisted with this line of action, the authority would have no alternative but to take further disciplinary action.
Degaetano was stunned to find out that while he was “found guilty” of the alleged false report on 24 January, the MEPA board minutes of the 25 January showed that the director of planning had been instructed to investigate the accusation of the false report.
mvella@mediatoday.com.mt
|
