Manikata is once more under threat. Almost one year ago, in these same columns I had written about the kebab man who had managed to ruin the surroundings of the small Manikata Chapel. [The kebab man and his business partner. TMIS 28 August 2022]

To succeed the kebab man required the approval of the Planning Authority, which was forthcoming. The Archdiocese of Malta first objected to the development and subsequently withdrew it. The development which dwarfed the Manikata Chapel was also deemed acceptable to the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage which also withdrew its earlier objection to the development.

It was then revealed in the media that the business partner of the kebab man was the architect in charge of the development, with a 50 per cent stake in the shareholding of the company in charge of the development: Jake Developments Limited. More than twelve months down the line the authorities responsible for monitoring the professional ethical behaviour are still silent on the matter. Their silence has transformed them into accomplices.

This case in Manikata is not the only instance wherein the architect in charge of a specific development had a direct interest in the fruits of the development through a part ownership of the project. It is pertinent to remember that in the Santa Venera/Ħamrun development which led to the death of Miriam Pace, the architect in charge of the project had a 10 per cent share in the development through his stake in the company MCZMC Developers Limited. 42 months have gone by and the matter is apparently forgotten. I have already pointed this out in these columns in an article entitled The architect-developer (TMIS 8 March 2020).

These specific cases are the most obvious ones through which the authorities once more clearly signal that they don’t care. The occasional declaration by the Prime Minister that he is determined to ensure standards means nothing as his words have practically never been matched by appropriate action. The same goes for the Chamber of Architects which continuously ignores the role of greed in eroding  professional ethics in its ranks.

We are now faced with another Manikata application, this time a planning control application. This new application seeks to intensify the permissible development in the area close to the Grade 1 iconic Manikata Church designed by Richard England in the 1960s.  

The new application seeks to transform an area within scheme from one suitable for residential villa development to one for terraced development. This would signify intensifying the permissible development through permitting more blocks of flats in the area.

Given that, according to the submitted drawings a substantial part of the site under consideration is public property it is difficult to understand how this planning control application has proceeded so far without having some form of consent of the Lands Authority. Planning Control applications (as far as I am aware) require the consent of 75 per cent of the land owners involved to proceed thus far. It therefore would be logical to assume that the Lands Authority has a lot of pending explanations!

The rape of Manikata is not unique. It is ongoing all around the islands. It is made possible by a Planning Authority which, quite some time ago, ditched its land use planning functions and instead adopted a different function: that of an authority which just issues development permits: in many cases haphazardly.

In the past weeks the Court of Appeal has cancelled a number of development permits, as a result indicating that the Planning Authority is many a time in breach of its own rules.

The way forward is not easy. Some weeks ago, the Prime Minister had declared that he was about to embark on another reform of the Planning Authority. It will be another opportunity for more empty talk and more declarations on the need to protect the environment, none of which is reinforced by specific action.

We have been there before, year after year. After each reform carried out the resulting mess increased. Declarations made have never been matched with appropriate action. The end result is the rape of not just Manikata but of each and every one of the towns and villages of the Maltese islands.

The future is bleak. It will remain so until the political will to act crops up. But then, most probably, there will be nothing left to protect.

A clear pattern exists. Greed has long taken over land use planning.

An architect and civil engineer, the author is a former Chairperson of ADPD-The Green Party in Malta.  [email protected] ,   http://carmelcacopardo.wordpress.com