PN says Lands Authority operates in a climate of secrecy and incompetence

The Lands Authority operates in a climate of secrecy and incompetence, the Nationalist Party said on Thursday as it reacted to the damning findings of a National Audit Office report.

“This has now been confirmed by the Auditor General in a report highlighting how the Lands Authority is still too reliant on paper files despite the fact that it is meant to utilise specialised software,” PN MP Rebekah Borg said.

The Auditor General's report found the Lands Authority is still highly reliant on physical files to perform its day-to-day responsibilities.

The government agency in charge of managing public properties does not have a centralised record that provides a picture of all properties under its jurisdiction, according to the audit. 

Despite the use of "bespoke" property management software, the Lands Authority confessed that it "cannot certify" that all property under its jurisdiction is inputted into the system since a reconciliation with all physical files was never performed.

Meanwhile, Borg described this software as inefficient, basic and sometimes almost inaccessible due to the way it operates. 

She recalled a parliamentary question to Lands Minister Silvio Schembri, in which he conceded that the digital system is insufficiently robust since it does not allow for a search based on a precise and particular use of the property.

“The recent decision by the Lands chairperson to restrict all access to the digital system except data related to the upcoming board meeting for all board members adds to the secrecy,” added Borg.

The PN lands spokesperson claimed this decision was taken after a request from the Nationalist Party for access to information about a case that was revealed in the news.

Meanwhile, PN advised the Lands Authority to implement a well-designed and run digital system to minimise the long-standing backlog and increase transparency within the same authority.

The party requested that the authority develop a strategy for properly identifying and registering all government property, as well as determining its worth as soon as possible.

“Access should also be given back to all board members to ensure transparency within the authority,” Borg said.

The PN will write to the chairman of the authority, requesting that at the next meeting of the board of governors, the digitisation process of all the authority's files be discussed in order to increase transparency and accessibility of information about government lands by the general public.