Parliamentary Secretary for Planning Michael Falzon this morning denied that he had any part in shady dealings with Mark Gaffarena.
Dr Falzon has been at the centre of a controversy involving government transfer of property in Valletta to Mark Gaffarena, with the Opposition later also revealing that other deals had been carried out between the government and the businessmen involving land and property in other areas.
Interviewed on Ghandi Xi Nghid by Andrew Azzopardi, Dr Falzon said that "there was nothing shady” in what has taken place.
“If there is one person who is not happy with all of this it is me. If there is something that wasn’t done well, I have no problem putting it right. I am not happy that someone has spent 5 weeks attacking me publicly then says differently in Parliament”.
“We were discussing a motion on garages in Parliament and instead, Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil spent an hour attacking me. I am disappointed as this shows the low level that certain people can go down to. Halfway through these attacks, he made a statement saying that ‘we are not saying that Michael Falzon pocketed money, but what happens beneath him is his responsibility’."
“First he made a campaign trying to break me by calling for my resignation, and then in Parliament he made this statement. In the entire case, architects appointed by Jason Azzopardi were used to make all the evaluations. So if Jason Azzopardi hired the son of his constituent as an architect, should it be Michael Falzon who pays?” Dr Falzon asked.
Dr Falzon argued that “It is a fact that at no stage was there any form of political intervention on my part. The Opposition Leader himself says I took nothing yet still wants my head cut off”.
“If there is something lacking, it is that the procedures left behind by (former minister) Jason Azzopardi were followed,” Dr Falzon added. “This deal, perfect or not, occurred normally in the course of business and according to procedure”.
Asked whether the Prime Minster had called for his resignation, Dr Falzon said – “Prime Minister Joseph Muscat never asked me to resign”.
On the strategic place for the environment and development (SPED) and the Mepa de-merger, the Parliamentary Secretary said that development remains intrinsically tied in with the economic success of Malta. “We can say we no longer want to develop, and I think we are reaching that stage, but it remains a fact that construction is an essential part of the economy”.
Dr Falzon said that he has been in Parliament for 8 years and feels the political climate has worsened. “Back when I was in Opposition the climate was better. While I’m not blaming the opposition, the climate over the past two years worsened and became even worse when we went to the new Parliament”.
“The building itself is an investment made by the country for good or bad. It would be irresponsible if so many millions were spent and it wouldn’t be used. I think the Opposition are trying to make a show considering Parliament is now shown live on TV, even to show what a ‘hero’ someone is. I try and hold back from doing this but I don’t always succeed. The second problem is the Chamber room itself. In the old building there was more comfort and in the new building physically there comes a point where you can’t stand it any more. There’s also the problem of the closeness between the two sides, where if I pass a comment to a colleague the Opposition hears”.
He said that the Labour Party when in Opposition was far more constructive and the current Opposition is only negative and destructive.
He said that a clause in the SPED ties government to only allow minor changes to development zones. “The PN voted against this. When the revision of the 2006 exercise occurs, this government ties itself to not allowing any major changes.”
“In the famous 2006 rationalisation exercise, the government back then grew the development zone by 2 million square metres”. He said that it didn’t take into consideration archaeological areas and left them in development zones.
“The SPED is a strategic plan for the environment and development, giving direction for planning and development. It’s the overall picture, where laws, local plans and policies would fall beneath it. Nothing would be able to go against it," he said.
Local plans will be revised, Dr Falzon said, and mentioned that such revisions are needed from time to time. “As I previously said if we have 10,000m2 of development zone in an area, the changes cannot be significant”.
Dr Falzon said that when the SPED was announced there were six weeks of consultation period, and we even doubled it to around 12 weeks. There were ENGOs who were rude, saying this wasn’t a proper SPED and didn’t submit their ideas.
“We even gave the faculty for all ENGOs to submit their ideas within the Parliamentary Committee for the Environment. We took over a large number of proposals made by the ENGOs”. He mentioned that there were those who criticised government for taking 90% of ENGO ideas.
There were a number of ENGO representatives who thanked government for such a well held consultation period, he added.
Dr Falzon argued that government is pro-business, adding that development has an important role in the economy and not all development must be seen negatively. What do we want, a stagnant society, with no economic growth and in a deficit procedure? We have the lowest unemployment rate in history, we have economic growth, a consistently growing tourism industry etc.
He mentioned AD Deputy Chairperson Carmel Cacopardo is genuine in what he believes, however there are people who attack things just for the sake of it.
The reality is that everything one does damages the environment. "We must find an element of balance," he said.
Turning to the MEPA demerger, he said that government is truly making an effort. Two authorities will be created, one for the Environment and one for Planning. On the Executive Council, the strongest organ for Planning, there will be 2 out of 7 permanent representatives from the environment sector. Here we have an authority, where on the organ responsible for policies, there will be 2 members from the Environment Authority.
“It’s like having two directors on your board coming from a competing company. On the Planning Board, the decision taking Board for application, there will also be a member from the environment. The Environment Authority will also be able to appeal decisions made by the Planning Authority. He said that it will not have a veto power. By right, if a major project would occur in a locality, the local council will have a right to have a representative on the decision taking Board”.
It's not perfect, but the effort and direction is there, he said.
On his early retirement from BOV, he mentioned that he performed 35 years of impeccable service. He said that he is an Associate of the Charter Institute of Bankers, adding that he was ranked 8th in the world.
“Ironically the person who knows how good my service was at BOV is the Opposition Leader, as when he needed help from me at BOV, I went out of my way to help him. I don’t regret it”.
“I was the highest qualified lawyers at BOV and even if I went back I’d still be one of the most qualified lawyers”.
He argued that there were people who took early retirement and received more funds than him, not because they gave an impeccable service, but because it would be better for them to leave than the company be constrained.
Jason Azzopardi replies to accusation
PN MP Jason Azzopardi replied to accusations that the architects who evaluated the property in Old Mint Street were hired by him. He said that "it beggars belief that Dr falzon resorts to untruths and lies to disrupt the Old Mint street scandal. The architect hes referring to is architect Stefan scotto, who was engaged by the Lands Department in April or May 2000, which is 8 years before I was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Lands in March 2008. For falzon to say that I hired the son of my constituent as an architect is a lie. He was there as an architect for 8 years before my time".