[WATCH] Activists block ERA offices, denounce authority’s ‘toothlessness’

Activists block ERA offices, denounce authority’s ‘toothlessness’

Environmental activists blocked the entrance to the Environment and Resources’ Authority’s (ERA) offices in Floriana in a protest to urge the beleaguered authority to appeal the recent approval of towers in Sliema and Mriehel.

The 20 activists laid empty and dusty cement bags at the gates of ERA’s offices, marked with the names of Tumas and Gasan – the developers behind the two high-rise projects.

They raised placards with the slogans ‘Dust and smoke…courtesy of Tumas and Gasan’ and denounced ERA as a ‘bahh’ (emptiness).

Armed with a megaphone, Moviment Graffiti activist Andre Callus decried ERA’s inefficiency and its non-committal to appeal the two projects.

“There isn’t a single institution in this country that safeguards the environment,” he said. “The MEPA demerger was sold to us as an attempt to give the environment a stronger voice, but all it has done is place environmental authority into the hands of an ineffective and under-resourced entity.

“Yet, in this case, ERA even failed to use what little weight it has.”

Two of the protestors carried large polysterene eggs and jumped whenever someone in the crowd shouted: “Min ghandu l-bajd jaqbez ghall- ambjent” (Those with balls stand up for the environment).

The ‘eggs’ were later presented to ERA chief executive Ruben Abela, who agreed to address the environmentalists outside the authority’s building.

“We are grateful for people like you for keeping us on our toes. ERA has only been in operation since last April, and all of the workers here are on a learning curve,” he said.

“At this stage, we are focusing a lot on gaining resources, because without resources we won’t be able to have these,” he said, patting the ‘eggs’.

However, he refused to commit ERA to an appeal against the high-rise, saying that it is currently seeking legal advice so as to take the “best possible decision in the context of the law and its environmental policy”.

“Even if I wanted to appeal today, I wouldn’t be able to, for the simple reason that appeals must be filed within 30 days of the publication of the Planning Authority’s decision in the Government Gazette. Although the decision has been taken, it has not yet been printed.”

The activists had camped outside the Prime Minister’s office in Valletta earlier this year, and indeed brought a tent to today’s protest as a throwback to the earlier event. Neither the public nor the authorities had been informed of the protest beforehand.

Activist Ruth Chircop later addressed the press, warning that the two high-rise projects will only benefit Gasan and Tumas, but add to the public’s daily problems of traffic, drainage and congestion.

She questioned why ERA chairperson Victor Axiak – who was indisposed for the PA’s high-rise meeting for health reasons – had only sent his opinions on the projects in a memo to PA board member Timmy Gambin, rather than to its chairperson Vince Cassar.

The part of the memo concerning the Townsquare tower was never read out during the meeting, but it was later reported that Axiak had described the environmental impact assessment for the project as a “sham”.

“ERA is supposed to take clear decisions in favour of the environment, but its final stance on these projects remains a mystery,” Attard said. “We expect ERA to appeal these projects in as determined a manner as possible.”