Three of the six board members of the Development Control Design Policy Board 2015 are “among the most dangerous architects in Malta”, environmentalist Astrid Vella told The Malta Independent’s interview programme, INDEPTH, this week.

President of Flimkien Ghal Ambjent Ahjar Mrs Vella said that one of those sitting on the DC 2015 board, has two court cases related to malpractice. When pressed by presenter Rachel Attard to name who these architects are, Mrs Vella refused to divulge the names but asked why the authorities chose to have these people making the most controversial policies.

Mrs Vella said she had been in favour of a demerger in MEPA, and supported the idea because she believed that the environment would be given a bigger voice.

“What we have now with the MEPA demerger is not a reform, but a step back into the dark ages. We were in favour of a demerger because of the sorry state MEPA was in. We wanted to see the split because we always noted that the environment was ignored when compared to development.”

She said the FAA was always very clear – that MEPA should be split so that the environmental authority would be given more prominence.

Mrs Vella said that her motivation was never inspired by any political affiliation and explained that her presence on the Labour Party media before the 2013 election, was due to the fact that FAA was ‘banned’ from appearing on PBS and Net Television.

“When Net Television invited me to their station after the 2013 election, I went to meet the head of station and introduced myself as this was the first time we had ever been invited. You have to understand that we always attended programmes to which we were invited.”

Pressed on her political affiliation with the Labour Party before the election, Mrs Vella said, “I challenge anyone to find one time when I officially supported the Labour Party.”

Ms Attard then gave Mrs Vella a print out of a copy showing Mrs Vella’s commenting on a Labour Party campaign leaflet which was distributed with a local newspaper. Mrs Vella claimed that she was never asked permission for her comments to be published, saying that this goes against the NGO’s statute.

She said that it is part of the Maltese mentality to believe that someone is supporting a particular political party simply because they appear on its station.

“Unfortunately, politics in Malta simply boils down to the mentality that if you are not with us, then you’re against us. Nowadays, we appear on the PN media. That does not mean we’re Nationalists.”

Ironically, Mrs Vella said that now she is never invited to speak on PBS radio and NET TV is the only station that invites her.

Pressed to say if her appearance on ONE TV made her sympathise with the Labour Party, Mrs Vella replied she would never vote Labour.

“Let me be very clear with you. My father died under Lorry Sant. How could I ever vote Labour?

“I am an environmentalist and I lean to the green parties. Why do we have this fixation on a two-party system? There are other parties. In Malta, we simply don’t accept the independent mentality.”

Mrs Vella said that the problem nowadays is access to information which has become even more difficult. “We have moved a step backwards, instead of progressing further.”

Asked why in an article which appeared in The Malta Independent she described the Planning Authority as controlled anarchy, Mrs Vella said that the reform has destroyed all the progress that was done before.

The politician’s hand is definitely involved in the Planning Authority, she claims. “We have never managed to keep politicians out of planning completely. But things as they stand today are worse than before.”

Asked to say if she is against any form of high-rise buildings, Vella said she is against this development in local context. “High rises are not compatible with the Maltese context and we cannot compare Malta to places like Singapore. We cannot be in favour of projects where there is no infrastructure to sustain it.”

She said that she has no trust in the authorities.

“To have a master plan which will cost the Maltese taxpayer €300,000 without carrying out consultations before is wrong. What kind of master plan is this? This is just a plan to favour certain developers.

“We are not against every development. We are against uncontrolled development without the proper studies.

“Surveys are showing that the public recognises that the environment problems are growing. Fifty-five per cent of the population believe the environment is the most serious issue at the moment.”

Asked if she would be willing to join a political force, Mrs Vella said she would never do so.