The government decided to established criteria for the revision of development boundaries to ensure that the process would not only be transparent but also safeguarded the environment.

In a statement issued yesterday in reply to Labour MPs Dr Joe Brincat and Roderick Galea’s comments on the issue, the Rural Affairs and the Environment ministry pointed out that since Labour Party did not disagree with the criteria, therefore they were acceptable.

The ministry said it was not true that the government was going back on its own policies.

“The government has also been consistent when it revised the boundaries, contrary to what the Labour party’s spokesmen were saying,” the ministry said.

It said that since 1998, both Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg and Environment Minister George Pullicino had insisted that there was no room for uncontrolled development but there was room to address certain anomalies and tracts of land that had been left out of the development zone.

“Cabinet reached a decision on a set of criteria that addressed these anomalies. It took this decision because the draft local plans drawn up by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (Mepa) did not always pay due attention to a rationalised revision of the boundaries,” the ministry said.

The government said a six-week consultation process was under way after which a revised structural plan would be presented in parliament. The government encouraged the opposition to take an active role in the consultation process.