Opposition MP questions political independence of proposed Environment Authority

Marthese Portelli questions why all members of new Environment Authority will be government-appointed, accuses government of seeing 'absolute environmental control' 

The proposed Environment Authority as part of the MEPA split may not be truly independent as its members will all be government-appointed, shadow environment minister Marthese Portelli warned.

Speaking in Parliament during a discussion on the annual report on sustainable development, Portelli quoted environment minister Leo Brincat as saying that “the critical point is not who appoints the members but their true competence and impartiality.”

“I would like to believe him, but this is a critical point and the government’s environmental credentials have been found lacking,” she said, questioning how the EA will be able to carry out its regulatory role independent of Government.

“Why do all the board members have to be appointed by the minister? Doesn’t the minister trust eNGOs?”

“eNGOs aren’t even guaranteed one representative on the Malta Environment Authority. They do not even have a guarantee that the Chairperson of the Malta Environment Authority will be a person who has the protection of environment at heart.”

She accused the government of adopting an ‘I don’t care attitude’ with regards the environment and of ignoring green NGOs, and cited Din l-Art Helwa, Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar and Front Harsien ODZ who had criticised both the demerger and the controversial Strategic Plan for the Environment and Development.  

 “The government wants to have absolute control over the environment,” she said, citing how the Minister’s intervention is dictated 98 times in a 73-page law.

She had harsh words for the proposed Planning Authority too, warning that the law doesn’t even grant the Environment Authority a permanent seat on the Planning Authority’s executive council.

“The only five permanent members of the Planning Authority will be the executive chairperson, a chairperson and deputy chairperson all appointed by the government, and two experts in construction, health and safety or building services,” she said. “The environment won’t feature anywhere in this council”.

She explained that the council will be responsible for processing development applications and complaints, assessing alleged breaches of the law, co-ordinating investigations on alleged breaches, formulating, implementing and updating plans and policies on proper land and sea use , and planning development at land and at sea and “on any other matters as are considered to be necessary”.

Quoting the Bill, she said that the Environment Authority will only be a supplementary member to the PA’s executive council, meaning that it only “may be called in to attend meetings of the Executive Council at the discretion of the Executive Chairperson”.

“The Authority will only be called in when considering the spatial strategy for environment and development, subsidiary plans and policies, development orders, scheduling and conservation orders and emergency conservation orders,” she said.

Environment Minister Leo Brincat said that the Nationalist Party’s “antiquated tactics of negativity” will condemn them to decades in the opposition benches.

He said that the PN has deliberately chosen to boycott a parliamentary debate on sustainable development and of adopting an “a la carte” attitude to parliamentary procedures. 

"Unfortunately, the Opposition are still in electon mode, and I refuse to be drawn in their trap and speak about the MEPA demerger in a debatt on sustainable development," he said.