The last time government had such power over the Planning Authority was during the time of Lorry Sant and Mintoff, Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil said.

"Everyone knows the corruption that existed back then. Ironically this began with the PL electoral programme with the term 'Malta for us all', because the environment belongs to everyone, and not just the PL, but now we know this term was a lie".

The PN put forward 2 amendments in order to make the Strategic Plan for the Environment and Development (SPED) look at the environment and strengthen it.

The first amendment would be for the plan to return to MEPA and be recreated after the necessary studies are made, in order to understand the state of Malta's environment.

The plan must include a vision of society for development and the environment for many years to come. "We are one of the smallest countries in the world, and thus have a huge responsibility on how to use our limited space. This document will determine our quality of life and that of our children".

He stressed that government has no legal justification to do what it is doing as it is not conducting the necessary studies and surveys to change the plan.

"The MEPA de-merger proposal also proposed that the Strategic Plan be proposed by the Minister, thus ignoring Parliament. I propose this suggestion be removed as such an important document should be approved by Parliament".

"The second motion we will put forward, is one just In case our first motion will be removed. We ask that the plan be amended so that every change in development zone be required to have Parliamentary approval. The new Strategic Plan is ambiguous in this regard. We insist that Parliament must hold its right to take the last decision with regards to such changes".

The PN Leader argued that government is trying to profit from Summer, attempting to pass through 2 initiatives that will affect the environment for many years to come.

"The changes made by this government will make it easier for government to abuse the environment".

The PL promised that we believe Malta has to be on the front of environmental standards, as that is what our children deserve.  This is what they promised, but not what they are doing. They promised to give a stronger voice to Environment NGOs, but this is not what they are doing. The truth is the environment is an obstacle for them, as the environmental protection does not let government do what it wants".

"Environment has become, local and internationally, an important discussion point. After the Zonqor scandal, everyone became more conscious of the environment, with the realisation that we, under a Labour government, are losing the environment more so than under previous governments".

People were shocked by the Zonqor project and stood up saying 'enough' he said.

Pope Francis has just released an Encyclical relating to the environment, and it was praised by many leaders, as it applies for those of any faith, and those of no faith, he said. The Pope asked, "what kind of world do we want to leave for those coming after us?".

"Let us also ask this of ourselves," Dr Busuttil said. "The Pope said that the world is loaned to us, so lets be careful with it and leave it in a good state for those who will come after us".

He said that in Malta, we are responsible to help. "The Pope asked governments to create strong institutions so that they can decide in an honest manner, and asked governments to be transparent with their people on development. When there is corruption, people hide things, and not all information is given, so that there would not be an open discussion. This is exactly what the PL is doing".

"Today we have the SPED in front of us, the plan for the environment and development. What are our obligations? To leave our country as beautiful as we found it, and preferably better than we found it".

This plan was described by the Church Environment Commission as a far-cry from the 1990 Structure Plan, Dr Busuttil explained. "Instead of taking us forward, this plan will take us back over 25 years. All that there is in the plan is a summary of objectives that had already been mentioned by the previous government with the aim of creating a new plan".

This government, instead of building on the document it found, kept it the same, changing a bit here and there at that for the worse, he added.

He turned onto the three bills relating to the MEPA demerger, and argued that their only aim is to give government total control over everything. "The Prime Minister will cut MEPA in half and throw it into the hands of Minister Brincat, the least effective Minister. The Planning Authority will be in the Prime Minister's hands, now imagine who would win there".

The environmental responsibility is being thrown aside, Dr Busuttil said again.

"Yesterday the Opposition sent a letter to PL MP Marlene Farrugia asking for the three bills to be discussed in the Committee first with the ENGOs, see an extensive public consultation and then discuss it in Parliament, not have it steamrolled into Parliament tomorrow morning. We expected that meeting to be one of many, yet Government wanted a single meeting just to say they had one. So much for a stronger voice for environmental NGOs".

Government called the Committee meeting for less than 24 hours after the announcement of the Bills. "That is their consultation. Government is doing everything it can to rush through these bills before Parliament. Through these laws, the environment will no longer be tied to Planning, when people are not paying attention as much to what is going on as they prepare for holidays".

He mentioned that NGOs called for discussions to take the time they need.  "Why all this rush? These laws will leave a massive impact on us and on future generations".

"Dr Mario De Marco said that Aarhus binds a strong public consultation on issues relating to the environment, yet the government is ignoring this".

"With the environmental side being divorced from the Planning side, it will no longer have the strength it has today".

He said government will create another Board, like the MEPA one, all chosen by government.

He stressed that, although government won the elections with a mandate to split MEPA, nobody imagined that the true intention, after the split of MEPA, that the environment be weakened and that government have more control over everything. "Wherever government has full control, there is scandal".

Environment Minister Leo Brincat said that tomorrow would only see the second reading begin, and not the bill conclusions. He argued that the real discussions will be at Committee stage, which wont occurr before the Summer recess..

He argued that Dr Busuttil was flimsy with his words. Turning to corruption, he mentioned Giovanna Debono's husband, or the Enemalta case, which were not mentioned by Dr Busuttil. He argued that the cases mentioned by Dr Busuttil were not proven, unlike the two he mentioned.

Turning to the SPED, he said that when proposing the MEPA split, they has an absolute majority from ENGOs, with just one environmental NGO against them.

The Minister is convinced that the Opposition speak differently according to the forum they would be in. "I believe that dialogue should be continuous, as is ongoing with Civil Society". He stressed the need to listen to those who have opposing views.

He mentioned that large projects, as mentioned in their manifesto, are subject to studies.

A good government does not try and prove that the previous government was worse, but rather does better than the previous government. He mentioned that more of the same cannot be an option, especially for a government that won by such a landslide. He mentioned that he is environment and business-friendly.

He argued that those who purposely find loopholes will expect to find them in every law. I do not agree that SPED should be re-written, as there was an extensive consultation process.

He argued that ODZs should only be used in last resorts and said that he would stick to this, and not allow people to bypass through holes into this.

"Once we have the necessary human resources, the environmental impact of SPED is important, adding that the local plans should come out after the SPED. I know how to tell who wants to make true contributions and criticisms, and those who want to stop the proceedings all together".

He expressed the importance of stakeholders, adding that this is why 4 weeks will be given for written submissions on the MEPA de-merger bills. He argued that he doesn't just want ENGOs and organisations to give opinions, but everyone.

He spoke of the importance of the environment, adding that while he doesn’t agree construction should stop, he doesn’t believe that construction should take place in every corner of Malta.

He said that the government has a plan which has the environment in mind. “SPED should be a document for everyone. As such, aside from being a template, it must be a dynamic document constantly under a scrutinising lens.

"Every use of land and sea should be done so in a sustainable manner".

He said that the SPED is a document for our time, flexible and full of responsibility and accountability.

The Minister added that for Malta to succeed, the environment, education etc must continue to work to improve the lives of the Maltese.

Government has and will continue to lead by example, and the people will succeed, he concluded.

 

The session quickly became heated during Parliamentary Secretary Michael Falzon's winding up of the debate.  prior to this, PN MP Mario Galea's speech was also interrupted by government MPs a number of times.

The Opposition brought up point of order after point of order, some relating to tomorrow's debate on the MEPA de-merger bills, arguing that government had not told them a time when the morning session would take place. Foreign Affairs Minister George Vella stepped in and said that Mr Falzon should be given all the time to conclude his speech and Louis Grech asked if there was agreement, to which the Opposition said no. Speaker Anglu Farrugia then asked if the Parliamentary Secretary would like to conclude or hold stay in possession next sitting, to which he closed his speech. Environment Minister Leo Brincat then began reading out the motions for tomorrow's sitting and government, MPs quickly called for the vote on Simon Busuttil's amendments to be voted on today. The Opposition requested a ruling.

The Speaker ruled that the vote could be taken tonight, however both sides agreed for the vote to occur at another time.