The problem with any case at MEPA is that it essentially pits two completely unbalanced opponents. On the one hand you have a developer fronting a multi million Euro project with a war chest to match. On the other hand you have the ordinary citizen/s trying to object with practically no resources or funds to speak of. No way can they ever hope to match a developer’s undoubted deep pockets.
Having now been involved in a running battle against a monstrous project in San Gwann for the last two years I can vouch that this imbalance is the primary cause why citizens cannot ever have their voices properly heard. Why the battle is lop-sided. Objections have to be accompanied with facts and figures best presented by lawyers, architects or archaeologists. These cost huge monies. Sums that even a collective of citizens would find it hard to meet. Even how and what procedures one needs to follow present a complete maze for the ordinary citizen especially if unaccompanied by someone more knowledgeable. Here I tip my hat to NGOs like FAA and Ramblers who make available their limited resources available to residents free of charge. But this is far from sufficient. Some years ago the Head of the Chamber of Architects confronted then Prime Minster Lawrence Gonzi during one of these ‘business’ breakfasts and challenged him head on “Objectors don’t stand a chance when facing developers who can afford to pay for top architects and lawyers. How can a little old lady object in the face of such a line-up?” Here is the answer.
The Government has to be pro-active. In the courts if you cannot afford a lawyer one is appointed for you in order to ensure a fair hearing. Citizens advocates have been asking for MEPA to set up a unit with the sole purposes of assisting citizens voicing concern over some issue or other. After all, MEPA set up the Major Projects Unit to help the most powerful developers, who certainly don’t lack for professional help, so why is MEPA refusing to set up a unit to help Joe Citizen? It would have to exist outside MEPA and be staffed by knowledgeable and honest individuals who at least can direct citizens to the right quarter. Collecting a simple plan from MEPA is impossible. Why? Because it is only architects and professionals who can pick up plans, perpetuating the monopoly. Why not allow the citizens to do so as well?
After all they would be the most affected. I have often been fobbed off when asking for information and thrown all sort of hollow excuses, including the bogey of data protection (every functionaries’ front line shield) and so on and so forth. If it weren’t for the fact that I had an NGO to guide me, I would have given up long ago. But why should a voluntary NGO provide guidance, and not the officials I pay out of my taxes? Throw the Aarhus convention at them to claim your rights to environmental information and they are obliged to surrender public documents. Sometimes they relent. Often it is an uphill struggle.
Why does anyone have to go through all this hassle, one stumbling block after another. That’s why it’s such a huge achievement when residents backed by NGOs occasionally win against the Goliath of developer backed by an entourage of lawyers, architects, surveyors etc.
Stephen Saliba
San Gwann