Planning secretary says nothing new in controversial MEPA ‘compromise fine’

The parliamentary secretary for planning Michael Falzon said a compromise fine between contraveners of planning rules and the Malta Environment and Planning Authority was already permissible at law for “humanitarian” considerations or in cases where the fines were “manifestly unjust or disproportionate.”

The government is under fire by environmentalists after MEPA published new rules allowing contraveners facing daily fines on enforcement orders, to ‘negotiate’ a compromise fine.

NGO Flimkien ghall-Ambjent Ahjar has called the new rule “institutionalised abuse”.

“Contrary to what has been reported in the press, it is untrue that the government is facilitating abuse by allowing individuals to petition on their fines, because this right already existed under the previous administration.”

MORE MEPA offering ‘compromise penalty’ for illegalities

On its part, MEPA said the compromise fine was intended at addressing situations where a daily fine following an enforcement notice, would not be in proportion to the illegality committed.

“The previous legal provisions did not allow for any form of flexibility to reflect the circumstances of any particular case. The only redress for the applicant or contravener was to lodge a petition in front of the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal (EPRT),” MEPA said.

The authority said that the new rules will allow for “a swifter and more streamlined process” where a sub-committee of three MEPA board members will consider requests to reconsider daily fines during public meetings. The reviewed fines will not be subject to appeal, but if the request is not accepted the applicant still has a right to appeal before the MEPA tribunal.

Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar said the new legal notice reverses the introduction in 2011 of stricter daily fines.

MaltaToday first reported last week of a controversial legal notice allowing MEPA to discount fines imposed on planning illegalities. 

FAA spokesperson Astrid Vella said the government was inviting abusers to make submissions to “specify the impelling reason or reasons why the penalty established in the [2011] notice should not be paid, as well as the manner in which the fine is to be varied.”

“Since when do we allow wrongdoers to decide their own punishment?” Vella asked.

Vella added that the legal notice, issued by government directly, bypassed MEPA’s public consultation system. “This is a very ominous development which has already been used when government invited developers to submit projects for land reclamation, side-stepping the need to issue a policy subject to consultation and EU scrutiny.