No decision on Manoel Island excavations should take place while MIDI project under appeal, environmental NGO says

Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar are protesting that the Planning Authority is set to take a decision on the proposed excavations of Manoel Island while the overall MIDI project is still under appeal.

The environmental NGO said that it would be “irresponsible and unethical to take a decision on the excavation while the whole project is being appealed," a decision it said would "reduce the whole appeal process to a travesty.”

The PA is scheduled to decide on application for excavations at Manoel Island on Thursday.

But in a statement on Monday, the FAA challenged the validity of the Manoel Island master plan, claiming that one of the persons on the board that approved it, is the same person who was found to have a conflict of interest that resulted in the DB Group’s Pembroke project being thrown out by the court. 

FAA said that Matthew Pace, the owner of a Remax real estate franchise, was similarly involved in the approval of the Midi Manoel Island master plan.

Last month, a court found that Pace, who had voted in favour of the DB Group’s City Center project, had a conflict of interest in the project. 

The FAA said in the current circumstances the “Planning Authority should refrain from considering any full development permit related to an outline permit that is being contested.”