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Muscat wants to relegate environment voice to one among 15 – de Marco
Environment minister Mario de Marco slams Joseph Muscat proposal to split environmental and planning agencies as “dangerous”.
30 January 2013, 12:00am
Karl Stagno-Navarra
Karl Stagno-Navarra
1 min read
Mario de Marco
Environment minister Mario de Marco said that he was politically concerned at Opposition leader Joseph Muscat's statement that a Labour government would separate the planning and environment agencies, currently under MEPA's responsibility.
He said the proposal raised "serious concern" about Labour's laison with developers and how he intends to find a balance with the environmentalist lobby.
"MEPA was purposely set up to reach a balace between two diametrically opposed sectors while on the other hand what Muscat is trying to do is to suffocate the environmentalist lobby," de Marco said, adding that the lobby would be relegated to having one vote on a round table of 15 votes.
De Marco said that a case in point was Labour's proposal to contruct a power plant in two years, when it is a well known fact that Environmental Impact Assessments take time to complete and must be conducted to safeguard environmental concerns.
"I worry as a Maltese citizen and as a politician when it is evident that Joseph Muscat has no regards to the environment despite claiming to be a champion of environmental issues."
He added that a similar case, which raised environmental concerns, was Joseph Muscat's recent statement endorsing land reclamation.
De Marco also pointed out that Muscat was proposing things which were either already implemented by the current administration to proper effect at MEPA or were in the process of being implemented in consultation with all stakeholders.
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Is this guy serious? PN created a monster with the planning authority and then a dinosaur by amalgamating planning with the environment. Everyone can see and feel the result. Since the last supposedly reform within MEPA, things have gone worse and worse, just talk to the employees within the Authority and one will know the real state it is in.
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A single trip on the Gozo ferry from Mgarr to Marsamxett will make you want to cry!
The Mgarr hotel that was demolished where in its placeconcrete flats are being erected; Xemxija concrete sprawl built around Xemxija Prehistoric remains; the Maghtab new dump on the Salina side-still belching smoke;the ugly Sliema front buildings with no decor whatsoever;the 'new eyesore' towers and concrete match box flats at Tigne! This is the environmental degradation 'protection'!! that GonziPN is defending?
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.... u allura id-demark neza' l-ingrevata (dan x'kien !!!) .... berfel ftit xagharu biex minghalih jidher sexy ..... rattab ftit lehnu biex taparsi jobrox inqas bih .... dellek ftit gel ...... u beda jghid ic-cucati ..... tafu intom, kemm ihobbu l-ambjent gonzipn .... bil-power station li rvinat marsaxlokk .... bil-power station tal-marsa li kellha taghlaq ma nafx kemm-il sena ilu .... bil-bini illegali .... bl-estensjoni taz-zoni fejn jista' jsir il-bini .... bil-bini illegali fl-armier ... imma d-demark l-aqwa li qal xi haga biex ibezzaghna dwar il-partit labaurista .... ghax tafu intom, kemm gej minn partit nadif, organizzat u korrett .....
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Tal-Labour kollox ĦAŻIN. TA' GONŻIPN KOLLOX TAJJEB. Riċetta sempliċi. Kampanja ta' BIŻA'.
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THIS IS ALL RUBBISH. THE ENVIRONMENT SECTION DID NOT HAVE A VOICE IN THE DECISION MAKING OF MEPA DESPITE THE "A" AT THE END!!! HOW MANY TIMES HAS THE ENVIRONMENT SECTION WITHIN MEPA OBJECTED TO ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION OF OUR HABITATS OR FLORA ONLY TO BE BRUSHED ASIDE BY THE GONZIPN AT THE HELM OF THE MEPA BOARD.
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Mario, It is useless crying on spilt milk. The PM during the las election that he was taking MEPA under his wings but it became T-Rex more than it was. I think you cannot have one institution for development and the same institution for the environment. Sheet common sense.
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As things stand it does not even have a voice - stifling it was the mepa monster's job. Now it will have one and environmental NGOs will finally have a say too. Sour grapes Mario!
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The problem is that MEPA is one big monster - All involved in the industry have been asking for it to be split for years but their appeals have fallen on deaf ears, with the reform being a farce. Mario you know this better than anyone else.
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Mario DeMarco: You do not know what you're talking about. What GonziPN did has spelt disaster. So certainly, what PL will do at MEPA cannot be worse,so it can only be better !
