PN deputy leader Mario de Marco said that the Mepa demerger consultation process is an insult to civil society and a sham.
“The government has come to realise that it is obliged to hold a wider consultation process but at the same time the government is still insisting on closing this debate before the period of consultation ends,” Dr de Marco said.
This, he said, means that this government – which is meant to listen to people and give space to civil society to voice its opinion, hasn’t realised that MPs do not represent themselves but that MPs are representatives of the people.
Describing the situation as ‘surreal’, Dr De Marco pointed out that the Bill was only published in the Government Gazette on Friday 3 July and the government held a consultation meeting with NGOs on Tuesday this week, giving them less than 24 hours prior notice.
Earlier
Speaking in parliament prior to Dr De Marco’s speech, Parliamentary Secretary for Mepa Michael Falzon said that once the demerger takes place, the environment authority will have the right to appeal decisions made by the planning authority.
He said that the Mepa demerger is an electoral pledge the majority of people voted strongly for.
He went on to say that the new law will give citizens various rights.
He said that the new Planning Authority's policy making body will include two environmentalists as permanent members.
PM says government will vote in favour of Opposition’s amendment
Towards the end of this evening’s session, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said that the government will be voting in favour of one of two amendments presented by the Opposition.
The amendment reads: ‘Any such revisions will be construed as an amendment of this plan and the procedure set out at law regulating such amendments will apply’. The amendment went through.
However, although the Strategic Plan for Environment and Development (SPED) went through, the Opposition kept on calling a division "to protect the environment". This led to a vote on each amendment having to be taken every 20 minutes, the parliamentary session lasting until 3 a.m. this morning.