Absences on major decisions a regular occurrence on Planning Authority board

There were only two other occasions where all Planning Authority Board members were present for a meeting in 2018, apart from the last week’s controversial decision to approve the 38-storey City Centre project in St George’s Bay.  

These included the vote on the Fortina high-rise project which was approved by 11 votes against three, and the Maghtab petrol station which was approved by 10 votes against four.  

Curiously just weeks before the vote on the Maghtab petrol station the majority of Board members had indicated their intention to vote against the petrol station, located outside development zones.  

The City Centre vote last week provoked outrage after it was revealed that the PA had flown in a government-appointed member of the Board on a €8,750 flight by private jet from her holiday in Sicily. The member voted in favour of the project.  

A MaltaToday analysis of publicly available data on final votes shows that votes during Board members were absent included the controversial decision on ODZ petrol stations and large-scale developments like the Villa Rosa development, where four members were absent, and the Metropolis tower, where only one Board member was absent.  

The PA has justified its decision to fly in Jacqueline Gili from Sicily by describing the City Centre towers permit as a “high-profile” case which merited “the same magnitude and importance as that of other high-rise projects”.  

The analysis reveals that one particular board member, Desiree Cassar has been absent on 32 separate votes, which translates to 74% of all votes taken. Cassar was already absent on 50 occasions in the preceding year.  

Cassar, a tax lawyer by profession, serves as an ‘independent  member’ on the PA Board appointed by the government for her expertise in economic matters. She is also a member of the Accountancy Board .  

Jacqueline Gili, the public officer in the Department of Contracts flown in at the PA’s expense to attend the City Centre vote, was absent in 13 other votes.  

Opposition MP Marthese Portelli was the only Board member that did not miss a single vote. Her predecessor, Ryan Callus, had missed five votes in the first two months of the year. Labour MP Clayton Bartolo was absent for 16 votes.  

NGO representative Annick Bonello, Chairman Vince Cassar, ERA chairman Victor Axiak and ‘independent’ member Joseph Brincat also attended most of the decision meetings.  

The analysis does not register the attendance of Board members where no decision was taken or meetings for which minutes were not available on the website.