Alternattiva Demokratika make reference to a policy namely the Interim Review of Building Heights introduced in 1993 to criticise the Environment Minister, oblivious of the fact that that policy was introduced before Mr Pullicino was entrusted with ministerial responsibility for planning, the Environment Ministry said yesterday.

This policy, introduced by the then Planning Authority, allowed for the development of three floors in terraced house areas which were zoned as two floors and a semi-basement. It took AD a full 15 years to realise that this policy is not to its liking. AD also remained silent when the policy was extended to other areas under a Labour-led Administration in 1997, the ministry said.

AD makes reference to 53,000 vacant properties but consistently fails to mention that most of those properties are not available on the market for a variety of reasons. It is easy to identify the problems, but far more difficult to come up with solutions, which are effective and which do not undermine people’s quality of life. For example, AD proposes a tax on vacant property. Apart from the potential loopholes (for example different members of the family registering on different properties), such a tax would drive property prices upwards since anyone owning a vacant property would wish to recoup the taxes paid. This would have a knock-on inflationary effect on all properties.

AD claims that Minister Pullicino is insensitive to people’s needs. If this were the case, he would not have introduced a measure in the local plans requiring a minimum size of apartment of 120 square metres. This policy was introduced for areas where people were being excessively affected by redevelopments as well as areas, the character of which was being altered because of excessively intensive developments.

AD is falling all over itself to claim that the trend for redevelopment is the responsibility of the current Environment Minister. It is general knowledge that the trends for redevelopment gained momentum in the 90s. This was in part due to a Structure Plan, approved by Parliament in 1992, whose main thrust was to make more efficient use of land as a means of controlling urban sprawl. The trend for redevelopment gained further momentum as virgin land for new development became scarcer, the ministry said.

The reference to the value of property in a letter sent to Swieqi residents is taken out of context. The point being made is that people make demands for an increase in building height and their motivation is to increase the value of their property. This does not mean that the minister himself agrees with this line of thinking.

It is disappointing to see a party which allegedly endorses a green agenda consistently resorting to destructive tactics throughout the entire legislature. One wonders whether AD’s agenda is really the environment or an attempt to gain some votes, the ministry concluded.