The Rural Affairs and Environment Ministry said that the Church’s Environmental Commission offered no solution or suggestion as to how injustices and anomalies should be addressed.

In reply to the commission’s earlier statement, the ministry said that the process was initiated to render justice in the shortest time possible.

This element of justice was recognised by Gozo Bishop Emeritus Nikol Cauchi in an interview recently, and among other injustices he mentioned the sufferings of couples who invested their savings in plots that they bought from the Church before 1988.

Afterwards they discovered that they could not be developed because, in the exercise carried out in 1988, these lands were left out of the development zones.

The ministry reiterated that the process that has been launched intended to rectify injustices committed by the temporary exercise carried out in 1988.

As the term itself indicated, the Temporary Development Schemes drawn up in 1988 were not intended to last long. Although the government had more alternatives, the government chose to establish criteria that serve as a consistent measure for Mepa and the government when it decided which sites are to be included for development.

The commission does not say which of the criteria are not clear and does not give examples to sustain what it said. The government’s appeal is for those who have any submissions to make, to do so during the public consultation process.

The commission neither explains how the present exercise is creating new anomalies. On the contrary, the government’s intentions are to close boundaries and reduce the possibility that they are expanded later on.

The criteria established by the government are aimed at recognising the limited space and this is why the area for development will only increase by 2.4 per cent. Parts of these areas have already been touched by development.

The ministry added that the adjustment being made was the only one in 28 years – as no changes can be made until 2016.

Another important fact is that 90 per cent of the requests made to Mepa in the public consultation process for local plans had been turned down.