No political will to tackle abuse inside MEPA, say NGOs

Environment NGOs Friends of the Earth Malta, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, MOAM, Nature Trust, Ramblers Association and Zminijietna have expressed deep concern at news that more than 1,200 cases of abuse were erased from the MEPA website in what they described as a "corrupt effort to hide development illegalities."

MaltaToday revealed that a police probe had been requested by MEPA chief executive Johann Buttigieg, after 1,200 enforcement orders were found to have been deleted from the MEPA server: the deletions took place before the March 2013 general elections.

MORE Over 1,200 MEPA enforcement orders deleted from server

The NGOs have for years been highlighting the fact that some MEPA officials were not committed to eliminating abuse. "We have handled cases where enforcement officers, the very persons responsible for taking measures against abuse, have been more focussed on concealing abuse and defending serial abusers rather than on stamping out the abuse," the NGOs said in the joint statement.

"We deplore this latest action on the part of those who abused their authority while being paid by the public. Tampering of official data is a criminal offence and the NGOs maintain that action must be taken to bring the perpetrators to justice and not simply carry out a whitewash exercise as has happened in the past."

While MEPA is said to have realised that the deletions came about when a discrepancy on payments from enforcement penalties at year-end was found, the NGOs surmised that the authority lacked the necessary auditing and controls normally incorporated in any corporate computer application.

"How is it possible that such changes were only noticed by MEPA officials when discrepancies in fines cropped up at the end of the year, signaling a potential loss of hundreds of thousands of Euros in uncollected enforcement fines. The implications that MEPA's IT network lacks a system of cross-checks to prevent abuse and a tamper-proof audit system to track any changes, raise questions of poor management  that go beyond negligence," the NGOs said.

"Do physical files matching the missing digital data were similarly removed?"

The NGOs also accused MEPA of "frequently ignoring" reports from the public and fails to take decisive action following repeated reports on the part of FAA and Ramblers Association.

"Instead of being demolished, abusive structures are sanctioned and legalised... the system of fines does nothing to deter abuse, as fines are not imposed systematically, while fines of four Euros a day are risible and an insult to law-abiding citizens."

For years, the eNGOs have called for the strengthening of MEPA's enforcement arm. "MEPA's refusal to implement a measure as simple as a daytime mobile abuse hotline which NGOs have been demanding for years, amply confirms that MEPA prefers to discourage public reports, rather than supporting them," the NGOs said.

"The appointment of architects who have been involved in irregularities is again an indication of the lack of ethics within the authority. This tolerance of abuse is not limited to MEPA but has also been encountered in dealings with the Lands Department and the Building Regulations Board.

"The authorities' failure to take action against IT and development infringements indicates a consistent lack of political will to stamp out abuse."