Multiple associations and NGOs have expressed that they are in favour of the Minister of the Environment, Climate Change and Planning Aaron Farrugia’s announcement of a transparency register.
Farrugia, previously Parliamentary Secretary for EU Funds, was promoted to Minister of the Environment, Climate Change and Planning by new Prime Minister Robert Abela with the idea of bringing the environment and planning back under one ministry.
The Malta Independent on Sunday reported that he will start publishing a register of all meetings he has with stakeholders, in a move aimed at promoting transparency and good governance.
“This Transparency Register is in line with the 2017 Labour Party Electoral Manifesto, the European Commission’s 2016 proposal for a European Transparency Register, as well as the best-practices learned from other Member States of the European Union," he said.
President of the Federation of Maltese Aquaculture Producers (FMAP) Charlon Gouder pointed out that Malta is one of the few countries in the EU that does not have any law, code of ethics or register for lobbyists that show any interest in taking public decisions. With this in mind, FMAP more than welcomes this measure as “it is due time that Malta introduces a law, a transparent register and a code of ethics which regulates any activity of lobbying groups and lobbyists.”
While all meetings will be logged, the move is most crucial when it comes to the planning sector which remains a hot potato in Malta, with politicians often being accused of giving in to pressure by developers or of acting in the interest of the construction lobby.
Environment and heritage NGO Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar (FAA) issued a statement yesterday, that they respect Farrugia’s motion and “augurs that this new spirit of transparency will also be adopted by the Planning Authority (PA) where the disproportionate influence of the development lobby has led to the issuing of abusive permits and damaging policies that remain in force to this day.” They explained that since May 2019 the PA has been violating the EU Directive on the Public Right of Access to Environmental Information (Aarhus Convention) after they restricted public access to planning applications.
The government’s closeness with developers can be dated back to before 2013, during the time of the infamous fourth floor.
The Labour Party had been harshly criticised over these meetings and Anglu Farrugia, now Speaker of the House, had famously revealed how contractors and other people from ‘big business’ would hold meetings with party officials. He was asked about the meetings when testifying in the Daphne Caruana Galizia public inquiry and said that Keith Schembri had access to that floor, which needed a special code to enter.
President of the Malta Developers Association (MDA) Sandro Chetcuti was indicated in the inquiry by Farrugia as being one of the people who had access to the infamous ‘fourth floor’ meetings, held in Hamrun before the 2013 election. However, Chetcuti insisted that he had never gone up to the fourth floor before the 2013 election and that he had never attended any meetings there.
When asked by The Malta Independent on his opinion on this new transparency measure, Chetcuti said that the MDA will not find any objection to this procedure while also suggesting that minutes of such meetings are also kept.
Prof. Alex Torpiano, President of Din l-Art Helwa, was also contacted about this initiative and he said that this is a very important step, “one that should be present in all ministries so that there is a record of lobbyists that approach ministers.”
This newsroom asked the Prime Minister Robert Abela if there were such plans underway for this transparency measure to be spread across all ministries.
“The important thing is that it has been introduced in the most sensitive of ministry where you have to meet with different stakeholders but, yes, one has to consider further measures. I am always in favour of measures that result in more transparency within our country,” he said.