ADPD - The Green Party said Wednesday it is crystal clear that in spite of the impression given in her many press conferences and media appearances by Minister Miriam Dalli this government lacks a coherent policy on open spaces in urban zones and different ministries are simply going about their business-as-usual.

This is evident in the case of public land in Mellieħa that the Lands Authority is selling for speculation: it seems that Minister Silvio Schembri did not give ministerial direction to the authority to prioritise public urban spaces. For all their bragging about multi-million Euro investments in public open spaces, it would be more apt for government to safeguard already existing open spaces instead of handing them over for speculation, ADPD said.

ADPD – The Green Party Chairperson Carmel Cacopardo said that the case of public land in Mellieħa further confirms that Labour has not changed the policy of unbridled development put in place by the Nationalists – indeed it has continued to make things worse. The local plans enacted between 1995 and 2006, together with the substantial amount of land given up for development in 2006 has led to a development frenzy.

Without an urgent revision of the local plans and the repeal of the 2006 rationalisation exercise, any declarations regarding the government’s supposed commitment to open urban spaces remain empty rhetoric. This revision is long overdue, concluded Cacopardo.