ERA still can’t replace Victor Axiak at PA meetings, even in case of sick leave

The law still has not been changed to enable the Environment and Resources Authority to send a replacement for Victor Axiak whenever he is sick and unable to attend Planning Authority Board meetings.

The government had promised to change the law to enable ERA to send a substitute after a controversial vote in August 2016 in which a narrow seven votes in favour and six against approved a permit for the construction of a 38-floor skyscraper in Tigné.

Axiak’s missing vote was critical since – had he voted against – it could have swayed the result, especially after it emerged that he had described the Townsquare EIA as a sham in a memo he had sent to another PA board member before the meeting. In the memo he declared his intention to vote against the project.

“Had I known that my vote would have made such a big difference, I would have crawled to the place, despite my cardiologist’s advice,” Axiak later said in interview.

But nearly two years after the Townsquare vote, the law has not been changed to enable ERA to send a substitute whenever Axiak is indisposed.

“The law has not yet been changed. Furthermore I have received no information on any proposed changes in the law to enable the change,” Victor Axiak told MaltaToday.

Questions sent to Minister Herrera on whether the government still intends to change the law to make it possible to substitute the Environment and Resources Authority representative on the Planning Authority Board remained unanswered.

In August 2016 Environment Minister Jose Herrera cited legal advice given to the ministry from the Attorney General that a board member could not be substituted in case of illness. Herrera declared, “The necessary legal amendments were currently being prepared for this to become possible”.

Planning Ombudsman David Pace had previously expressed his concern that taking a decision without hearing ERA’s views “runs entirely against transparency and accountability rules” and broke all fundamental principles concerning the right to a fair hearing.

The fact that the PA was able to forge ahead despite an ERA representative not being present and the authority’s views not being heard simply highlighted how inadequate existing laws were from an environmental protection point of view.

Following the vote, Axiak had told MaltaToday that on the eve of the meeting as soon as he “realised that due to health reasons” he would not be able to attend the PA board meeting he sent a detailed memo on both the Mriehel and the Sliema tower high-rise projects to board member Timmy Gambin telling him to use the email as he deemed fit during the meeting.

Board member Timmy Gambin read part of this memo dealing with Mriehel. But no reference was made to Axiak’s memo during the afternoon session dealing with the proposed tower in Sliema.

Axiak defended his decision to hand the memo outlining his thoughts only to Gambin, saying in a statement he did it to avoid exerting “unjust and unfair” pressure on other PA board members.

Victor Axiak voted against projects approved by the PA Board 19 times in 2017. Among board members he was the one to attend most meetings, missing only four in 2017.