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18 maltatoday EXECUTIVE EDITOR Matthew Vella MANAGING EDITOR Saviour Balzan Letters to the Editor, MaltaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt Letters must be concise, no pen names accepted, include full name and address maltatoday | SUNDAY • 23 SEPTEMBER 2018 24 September 2008 No shame: Joseph Muscat celebrates at Caqnu's vineyards LABOUR leader Joseph Muscat marked his entry into Parliament by holding celebrations at none other than Charles Polidano's wine vaults yesterday night. The building magnate, speculator and mega con- tractor is no longer the Opposition's persona non grata, as amply shown by Muscat's choice of venue yesterday. The party at Montekristo Wine Vaults, property of Polidano Brothers, was organised by Forum Zghazagh Laburisti – the Labour youths' organisation – despite years of attacks by the party media on Polidano. … Muscat's decision to attend the event at the Mon- tekristo vineyard is indicative of the 34-year-old's pre- disposition to get closer to big business and forget past skirmishes. Forum Zghazagh Laburisti President Dan- iel Micallef defended the decision to hold the event at Polidano's vineyards after the party had consistently hit out at the construction magnate. "I have nothing against the use of this place, after all it is being used as a commercial place. This does not mean the Labour party will not criticise Polidano if need be," he said. … On his part, Labour secretary-general Jason Micallef told MaltaToday yesterday that Montekristo Wine Vaults "was not chosen because it is owned by ic- Caqnu." "It is a commercial entity in which activities are organised on a regular basis and this activity is taking place in a complex where a lot of activities have been organised like today's, both by political parties as well as individuals on a commercial basis." Asked whether he felt politically uncomfortable at the fact that this activity was being organised at a venue owned by Charles Polidano, who the Labour Party has criticised so much in the past, Micallef told MaltaToday: "This is not a matter of feeling uncomfortable or not. There are all the permits according to the law at the venue where we held the activity and you should not feel uncomfortable that the activity is being organ- ised at a venue which is owned by Peter or Paul," he insisted. "If you had to apply this all the time – and I ask you to quote me verbatim – and look at the owner- ship of all the hotels, you would end up organising it nowhere. I can't understand what this story is about!" Micallef said. Pressed further about the matter, Micallef seemed oblivious to the political insensitivity of the decision among floating voters. "Therefore if the property is owned by ic-Caqnu, and the Labour Party decided to organise an activity there, we should be precluded from organising this activity there because it is owned by ic-Caqnu? The fact that we criticised ic-Caqnu in the past shows that nothing prevented us from criticising ic-Caqnu, nei- ther in the present nor in the future, if there are things on which we should criticise him and all other con- tractors if we need to." MaltaToday 10 years ago Quote of the Week A green flashpoint Editorial "The reality is that in our country, a group of pathetic individuals have the power in their hands." Moviment Graffitti activist Andre Callus after the PA's approval of the City Centre project IT was inevitable that the db Group's City Centre project in St George's Bay would end up in a quagmire of controversy. The outcome of Thursday's Planning Au- thority vote to approve the permit has left many residents with a bitter aftertaste; and beyond that, a widespread sensation of déjà- vu. As the meeting unfolded, and reasoned arguments against the project outnumbered voices in favour by an overwhelming major- ity, the board members' own contributions all pointed towards a decision that had been taken beforehand. Objections were for the most part simply ignored out of hand. When PD spokesman Godfrey Farrugia listed out 19 infractions or irregularities in the planning process, the board members almost literally looked the other way. Above all there was a distinct feeling that genuine and valid concerns raised by almost a whole community were being overlooked; or worse, side-lined for the business interests of someone who will be making a killing on public land granted to him in very dubious circumstances To start with, the manner and price at which the ITS land was granted to Silvio Debono's company remains a matter of controversy. The short timeframe for the tendering pro- cess, and the dubious land valuation exercise, had already created a sense that public land was being hived off for private interests on the cheap. In the end the db Group would only dish out a cash consideration of €15 mil- lion, with the boisterous €60 million price tag quoted by the Prime Minister to be reached only when tenants in the lucrative apartments eventually redeem their ground rent. Nonetheless, Debono took a risk in applying for this project. Given the wave of hostility the PA approval has unleashed, one must pause to consider that businessmen are also expected to take risks. While the reactions are understand- able, they are in a sense misdirected. We look to national institutions such as the Planning Authority to safeguard the environment and the interests of communities... not to develop- ers like Silvio Debono, who do not have any commitments to those causes. Having said this, there is also an entirely un- necessary hostility displayed by such business interests, when civil society attempts to throw spanners into the works. That the db Group provided free transport to its own employees to attend the meeting, is suggestive of an at- tempt to drown out all opposition. Developers must be aware that their projects have a serious impact on the quality of life in the surrounding areas. A little sensitivity towards this fact would not be too much to ask of Malta's development lobby... especially considering the longer-term impact of their projects. Moreover, in this case, Silvio Debono's risk-taking was not limited to proposing a massive project, and issuing a bond as part of the financing package. He also started selling on-plan apartments inside the 38-storey tower, before it was approved. The gamble paid off on Thursday when the PA board approved the project without bat- ting as much as an eyelid at the impact it will have on the neighbouring Pembroke commu- nity. One can hardly blame the general public for drawing its own conclusions, and deciding for themselves how much of a 'risk' it really was. The result is a new wave of disillusionment gripping Maltese society, with which other communities around Malta can certainly identify. Pembroke residents are not alone in feeling totally dejected at being completely ignored. The Marsaskala community can sympathise, remembering a time, not too long ago, when a recycling plant was planted in the locality after a vitiated alternative site selection process. This latest example of an apparent 'fait ac- complit' raises questions as to the weight pub- lic outcry is given in Malta's planning process. It really feels like residents' concerns are all- too easily dismissed, in a planning process that is after all supposed to be public in nature But worse still, controversy is stoked by pol- icy ambiguity. If architects, planners, or even lawyers can liberally interpret planning policies to suit their paymaster's needs, it is inevitable that mayhem will ensue. It boggles the mind how, on Thursday, the architect who was responsible for drawing up Malta's high-rise policy argued at the meet- ing that the db project was not in line with the policy... and yet, board members did not even bother to probe further. All this gives the impression that this policy ambiguity is intentional, aimed at allowing the big guns to get away with bending the rules. Lastly, the db project was not just a private initiative but one aided and abetted by govern- ment through the sale of public land. Thurs- day's approval of the City Centre project may very well be a green flash point for the Labour government. Meanwhile there may be another reason for both the scant regard given to residents' concerns, and the policy inconsistencies themselves. Anger is palpable in Pembroke, but Government knows that this communal resentment is unlikely to translate into an electoral backlash under the current political circumstances. This naturally remains to be seen, but gov- ernment would be wise to remember that his- tory, too, will judge this phase of Malta's politi- cal development. And history may be a lot less kind to Joseph Muscat's administration than the electorate.