The discussion on the new Strategic Plan for Environment and Development (SPED) is due to continue in Parliament this evening and, in the light of this, Din l-Art Helwa has written to the Prime Minister, Dr Joseph Muscat, the Parliamentary Secretary for Planning, Dr Michael Falzon,  the members of the Parliamentary Committee for the Environment and the Chairman of Mepa, to take action about two particular clauses within the final draft that make any improvements for the protection of out of development zones merely cosmetic.  ‘Including these two clauses will be fatal for the countryside, rural areas and our coast’, says the NGO. 

These two new clauses state that where no other feasible alternatives exist in the Urban Area, these may be permitted in out of development zones.  Furthermore, they also state that projects which are of a sustainable nature can be permitted in out of development zones  “as a last resort where it is essential for the achievement of sustainable development.”

This wording introduces uncertainty, can be applied very broadly to many development schemes and thus creates loopholes that can be utilised to bring development into protected areas.  They render null any improvements that have been incorporated into the final SPED draft.

This may be the last opportunity government has to give the nation a Strategic Plan that clearly defines and gives direction to the use of space for the next decade. Din l-Art Helwa still maintains that this new legislation is not fit for the purpose for which it was created being still a very superficial document.  However these two clauses render the plan vague and equivocal and therefore deny the SPED the essence of clarity it is required to have according to legislation. Din l-Art Helwa looks to the Prime Minister as Minister in charge of Planning and Lands to urgently consider this so as to fulfil the promises made in the 2013 electoral manifesto which stated that if elected, ‘government would protect the environment, not because anybody has told us to do so, but in order to save it for future generations’. 

 ‘Good governance and therefore good legislation is what we expect of our politicians, not because NGOs ask for it, but because a responsible government should work for the common good’, says Simone Mizzi, president of Din l-Art Helwa

"We would ask you as Prime Minister and as Minister in charge of Planning to instruct that these two ambiguous and ill-defined clauses are struck off the proposed final draft or that time be taken to define them properly before this draft is approved."