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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 JUNE 2019 21 June, 2009 The men who sold Victor Scerri his land PN president Victor Scerri has confirmed that he bought his land in Bahrija from a company owned by two men, who in 1999 were charged with the theft of 15 paintings from Villa Fiorentina in Attard. Scerri applied for a MEPA permit for his land soon after in 2000. Norman Zammit, 56, a former Metco chair- man, and Generoso Sammut, 55, were accused of stealing paintings, furniture and other items from Villa Fiorentina in Attard. They were later acquitted of the theft due to "lack of evi- dence". They are two of the nine shareholders in Eliza Company Ltd, which purchased the land in Bahrija for €2.5 million from Salvatore Consoli- Palermo-Navarra. However, Zammit has been ordered by a court to pay back Bank of Valletta a €1.9 million loan taken out to buy the land. Scerri confirmed with MaltaToday that he purchased the land from Eliza. "Yes... I think so, but it was a while ago and I have to check." When asked about the involvement of Nor- man Zammit in the sale of the land, Scerri replied: "Yes, as far as I know, he is one of the shareholders." When police charged Zammit and Sammut with the Villa Fiorentina art theft, Sammut was already serving a suspended jail term. A tip-off to the police had led to the recovery of the stolen paintings in a factory in Commerce Street, in Qormi, where Sammut was seen going inside with a camera and a tripod. Sammut was apprehended on leaving the factory. Then assistant commissioner John Rizzo, who was leading the operation, found Norman Zammit in the factory. There they found 14 paintings locked inside a factory room. Police inspector Pierre Calleja had also told the court that Zammit released a four-page statement in which he admitted his involve- ment, but that Sammut had refused to reply to questions put to him by the police. Development works on Victor Scerri's Bah- rija property have now been stopped, pending police and MEPA investigations into the award of the permit. The development was exposed by the Labour Party shortly before the June 6 European Parliament elections. Eliza Company is at the heart of a fierce land tussle to evict farmers from their land. The area, known as il-Qortin and overlooking the bay at Fomm ir-Rih, is a green area and devel- opment there is prohibited. However, this has not stopped the firm from marketing the sale of the 1.5 million square me- tres for €30 million on the internet with claims that permits were available for "the develop- ment of fish farms, Disneyland-styled theme parks, golf courses of international standards and a five-star hotel." MaltaToday 10 years ago Quote of the Week From profits to people Editorial "I don't think an MP should be able to just shoot from the hip like that" The PN's outgoing Media Chief Pierre Portelli hits out at anti-Delia MPS who use social media to criticise PN Leader Adrian Delia AS the dust from the recent construction- related accidents slowly settles, the picture that emerges is one of a development sector that has been allowed to spiral out of control. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has finally admitted that the construction industry in Malta has grown at a faster pace than the entities regulating it: "The industry grew at a much faster rate than the institutional capac- ity of the institution governing it, that is the truth," Muscat said. "In this regard, we need to ensure that this gap is reduced as much as possible." But this will be difficult to achieve, for a number of reasons. The Muscat administra- tion has also green-lighted an unprecedented plethora of planning applications, largely through the electoral promise of 'reducing bureaucracy'. In practice, this has translated into a dilu- tion of existing scrutiny, and undue haste to issue as many permits as possible. All along, authorities such as the PA and the Buildings Regulation Office have been starved of resources: making it all but impos- sible to maintain the sort of monitoring and enforcement infrastructure needed to mini- mise the risk of serious accidents. Moreover, the construction frenzy is viewed as a central plank of the present gov- ernment's economic growth strategy. As in the years immediately after 1987, Muscat's answer to economic stagnation was to open the floodgates of construction. The decision to abruptly halt all excavation and demolition works must also be viewed in this context. Prolonged cessation of con- struction activity will come at a cost to the economy… this, in turn, explains the haste with which government emerged with new regulations for the sector: literally 'over the weekend'. Unsurprisingly, these new regulations have been met with scepticism. The Malta Cham- ber of Planners responded by pointing out that "legislation on its own will not resolve the problem that this rush to construct has created. The legislation defines the responsi- bilities and what procedure is required to be followed by the parties concerned to ensure safety to properties adjacent to construction sites." What that statement also implies is that the 'rush to construct' – and not merely the fact that construction takes place – constitutes the core problem. But just as there was a rush to build, so too has there been a rush to plaster over the cracks in the system with a new set of legisla- tive changes. Clearly, there is economic pres- sure to re-crank the construction machine back into action as quickly as possible. This, in turn, illustrates how severely we have come to depend on this sector, to maintain our status as 'the fastest growing Eurozone economy'. It is against this bleak backdrop, in which no political party can realistically offer much of a solution, that praise must go to NGOs like Moviment Graffitti, for becoming the face of the citizens' fightback on Malta's problem with construction. Too many times, the sedate mantras from the political class trickle down to the wider population, forcing the belief that Malta's economy needs to have a vibrant construc- tion industry that is always on the go. But that kind of 'philosophy' often seems to negate people's basic rights, their need to have a decent quality of life, to live in envi- ronments with clean air, without noise pol- lution, with safe urban areas, and with space for children. Above all, it negates the most basic funda- mental right of any citizen in a democracy: the right to live in safety, free from the fear of one's roof collapsing onto one's head. It is here that the industry itself must also shoulder its responsibilities. The Malta De- velopers Association has gone into PR over- drive to limit the reputational damage: even going as far as to claim it is 'part of the solu- tion, not part of the problem'. But the MDA has done little, beyond com- ing up with catchy slogans, to actually make good on that claim. Sandro Chetcuti's fa- mous quote about 'making hay while the sun shines' must surely be returning to haunt him. The MDA has openly lent its voice to the external pressures on local authorities to keep that permit-approval machine ticking over. It may not be the root cause of the prob- lem… but it certainly is part of the problem, as its chairman's own past pronouncements – in particular, the one about the two parties acting as 'supermarkets' for developers – make abundantly clear. At the same time, however, scapegoating the MDA will not help to reach any solution at all. The problem runs much deeper than that. Too many times, the psychological effects of Malta's construction chaos are wilfully ignored for the sake of profit. Without the justified anger of the citizenry, the political and business classes will never be moved to curtail the abuses of their industries. It is to the credit of Graffitti, and its con- sistent activism in favour of the environment, that last week's protest became such an im- portant community event that displayed the righteous umbrage of common mortals. More of this is needed – indeed, we need more unity from residents' associations and environmental NGOs to present a coordinat- ed programme of demands: non-negotiable principles and demands that serve to put people first, that serve to turn the bias away from profit and to people.