Din l-Art Helwa today expressed its strong objection to the manner in which the Minister responsible for Planning, Ian Borg, is handling the review of the Rural Policy Design Guidance of 2014.

On 25 October 2019, a public consultation on the objectives of this long-awaited review was launched, with a deadline of 15 November. Yesterday, however, Ian Borg announced that the draft policy was now already being drafted by a senior legal expert and would be ready within weeks.

The minister has thereby tacitly confirmed that the ongoing consultation is a total waste of time for any person or organisation who thought they should take it seriously and participate, DLH said.

Moreover, Din l-Art Helwa is surprised and concerned by the Minister's announcement that he has entrusted the drafting of this very important policy, to a legal expert.

Din l-Art Helwa stresses that the drafting of such policies should be led from a planning perspective, and not narrowed down to a legalistic approach. The legal aspect is also integral to any planning policy, but this should not be the leading approach. The Minister has hereby demonstrated a very limited understanding of the complexities of this policy and of forward planning in general.

Moreover, this important policy should be reviewed in a timely and considered manner. While it is regrettable that there appear to have been unnecessary delays in the review process to date, suddenly putting out a rushed job to appear efficient is not the answer. This could create more problems than it solves.

The Rural Policy of 2014 has been a failure. Din l-Art Helwa is disappointed that, with the approach now being taken, its review only seems likely to compound the problems that this misguided policy has already caused.