Repubblika today called for the resignation or dismissal of Planning Authority CEIO Johann Buttigieg, and for the Prime Minister to explain why he brought him back. Other NGOs, in a separate statement, also called for his dismissal.

In its statement, Repubblika said the messages between Johann Buttigieg and Yorgen Fenech published today reveal an extraordinary familiarity between a businessman with major development interests and the man entrusted with running the Planning Authority.

They show a public official discussing business opportunities with a person whose commercial interests depend on decisions taken by the authority Buttigieg runs.

"We already knew these facts. But seeing the conversations laid out before us, in their own words, makes it impossible to sanitise or minimise the abuse.

Johann Buttigieg should never again have been allowed anywhere near a public office whose powers can be exploited for private advantage, the NGO said.

But Robert Abela brought him back. That is today's political scandal.

Abela reappointed Johann Buttigieg to run the Planning Authority when what had been revealed about his relationship with Yorgen Fenech was already known. He did not learn about this history this morning. He knew about it and chose to ignore it.

This is part of a disturbing pattern. People exposed by the contents of Yorgen Fenech's phone as having had improper relationships with him were not treated as impresentabili. Under Robert Abela, they have been rehabilitated and returned to positions of power and influence.

Public office is not a prize to be handed back once the scandal has been forgotten, Repubblika said.

The Planning Authority exists to apply the rules impartially and in the public interest. It cannot be run by someone who has demonstrated that he regards proximity to developers, personal business opportunities and the exercise of public power as compatible.

These relationships have consequences for everyone. When rules are bent so that the richest can become even richer, ordinary people pay the price: through rampant development, ruined communities, environmental destruction and the concrete jungle Malta is becoming.

Repubblika demands:

The immediate removal of Johann Buttigieg from the Planning Authority;

A full explanation from Robert Abela for his decision to rehabilitate and reappoint Buttigieg despite everything that was already publicly known; and

The creation in law of an effective criminal offence of abuse of public office, so that anyone who exploits public power for private advantage faces real consequences.

"Robert Abela cannot wash his hands of this. He made the appointment. He knew what had been revealed. And he chose Johann Buttigieg anyway," Repubbika said.

Abuse of public office is intolerable. Knowingly returning someone who has abused public office to the same corridors of power is a political scandal.

For this reason too, we reiterate our call for people to attend the Protest of Solidarity on Wednesday, 16 September at 7pm in Valletta.

Several other NGOs, in a joint statement, also called for Buttigieg to be sacked. "There is only one logical and obvious course of action following the publication of chats between development tycoon Yorgen Fenech and PA boss Johann Buttigieg: Johann Buttigieg should be fired immediately, hauled before the courts on criminal charges relating to corruption and illegitimate influence, and permanently prohibited from occupying any public position."

The chats published show unequivocally that Johann Buttigieg, as head of the PA, was colluding with Yorgen Fenech over which projects and business deals should go ahead and for whose benefit. The chats disparaged NGOs defending the rights of residents and treated Malta as the private backyard of big business interests, the NGOs said.

The relationship between Yorgen Fenech and Johann Buttigieg is emblematic of Malta's planning situation, where decisions are systematically taken in the interests of the greedy few rather than the common good, with devastating consequences for our quality of life and environment.

It is all the more serious that part of these chats had already been revealed after Johann Buttigieg resigned from the post of PA chief, only to be reinstated by Robert Abela following pressure from Malta's developers. Now that the full extent of these chats has been published, the obscenity of that decision has become even more stark.

"Should Robert Abela refuse to fire Johann Buttigieg from his post after such crimes against the Maltese people have been laid bare in black and white, the situation will escalate. We will not accept the complete and official takeover of our institutions by corruption and greed," the NGOs said.

"The clock is ticking. If the necessary, common-sense actions are not taken to remove Johann Buttigieg from his post and replace him with a person of integrity, the people will fight back to defend their country."

Organisations
BirdLife Malta, Din l-Art Ħelwa, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, Friends of the Earth Malta, Front Żgħażagħ għall-Ambjent, Għawdix, Moviment Graffitti, Nature Trust Malta, Ramblers Association Malta, Wirt Għawdex