The Environment Resource Authority (ERA) needs to change the way it operates and it cannot remain "toothless" when taking decisions, PN MP Robert Cutajar said in parliament.

The ERA has been increasingly attracting criticism for decisions which it has been taking as of late.

If elected to government, Cutajar said that "the PN will not let the ERA operate toothlessly", and decisions which damage the environment will not be allowed.

The MP said that some members of the ERA do not have the environment at heart at all, and dance to the tune the government wants them to.

Furthermore, he accused the government of having "no plan" when it comes to the environment, where the minister "simply wakes up one day and announces schemes".

"The Opposition has learnt from the past, but it is learning more from what is happening today," Cutajar said.

Cutajar accused the ERA of being to complicit with what the construction lobby and the government want, saying that they are the government's 'yes-men.

The PN appealed to the ERA not to "insult the intelligence of the Maltese people" as it is "not fair to come with applications for works that already happened."