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6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 MARCH 2022 OPINION 2 maltatoday EXECUTIVE EDITOR Matthew Vella mvella@mediatoday.com.mt 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 • 20 NOVEMBER 2022 Shooting down political interference Editorial AN Appeals Court ruling handed down last week did more than just 'shoot down' the government's 2020 decision to cede Mizieb and L-Ahrax – two woodland areas in the north of Malta, covering an area larger than Buskett - to the custodianship of the hunters' federation, FKNK. It also established that the deal itself was all along illegal; exposing an uncomfortable degree of political interference, in the process. The concession itself was granted in a private meet- ing with FKNK in October 2020 – to which the media were not invited – attended by Transport Minister Ian Borg, Environment Minister Aaron Farrugia, Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri and Parliamentary Secretary Chris Agius. In his ruling, Mr Justice Lawrence Mintoff declared that this deal was now "null and without effect", be- cause it had not been carried out according to the formalities of the law in force. Effectively, the Lands Authority had no legal right to concede to the FKNK a "personal right" to manage these sites without a formal process mandated by law. Moreover, the Appeals Court observed that the Lands Authority was expected to have made a more rigorous examination as to whether these countryside parcels could be entrusted to the FKNK, within the parameters of the law. But a closer examination of the details also reveals that the entire arrangement – all the way from its inception, in the distant 1980s – had been mired in other procedural flaws. The FKNK first requested to manage the two sites in August 2014; and as title to its claim, it pointed towards a 1986 press release in which former prime minister Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici allegedly "con- firmed his approval" for Miżieb to be designated as a hunting reserve. The letter also mentions that the same applies for a project "in the limits of Mell- ieħa". Another photocopy of a press release, issued by the FKNK in 1989, claimed to contain a handwritten note by acting prime minister Guido de Marco granting the title of possession to FKNK on the same lands. But the originals of these two documents no longer exist, and no formal supporting documentation exists, not even a site plan specifying the extent of the two sites. Already, then, the FKNK's claim to this land was vitiated from the start. Neither the fact that a former Prime Minister had once consented to the deal, nor that the proposal itself appeared to enjoy cross-party support, adds up to any legal justification of the con- cession. (Even if these claims were ever supported by evidence: which they never were). But in September 2017, a separate court concluded that these documents did not give FKNK a legal claim over the site. This was confirmed by a reply to an FOI request by Arnold Cassola dated May 2020, where the authority confirmed that "to date no agreement, concession, lease, emphyteusis, title of ownership, encroachment, possession, or mere tolerance manage- ment and or services and or consultancy agreement has been entered into between the GPD and or Lands Authority and the FKNK". But when the Lands Authority opened a new file to handle the FKNK's 2014 request, the only documen- tation exhibited (in the case brought by the NGOs against the concession) were the same documents provided by FKNK in their letter. Elsewhere, the arrangement is riddled with trans- parency issues. Ingram Bondin, president of the Ramblers' Association, revealed that LAnds Authority CEO James Piscopo had received 'political direction' to set the FKNK's annual fee at just €400: without any standard procedure used to determine the amount. And to add insult to injury: it turns out the €400 was a further reduction from the initial amount of about €1,000. Bondin also observes that "none of the meetings [between government officials and FKNK] were min- uted and everything was done verbally. No related documents were found to exist, either in the archives of the ministry for transport led by Ian Borg or in the underlying parliamentary secretariat of Agius." "During these discussions, FKNK provided its own site plans and the government simply included the specified areas in Aħrax and Miżieb in the annulled concession. This area included Qammiegħ, which had never been mentioned before in the Mifsud Bonnici and de Marco documents." Bondin adds that a subsequent memorandum of understanding with the Environment and Resources Authority appears to have been an afterthought. One can only concur with the Rambler's president, then, that when he concludes that all this "illustrates the failure of governance at all levels which has taken place during the award of this concession." Nonetheless, there are indications that government may intend to persist in the same illegality. The FKNK has reacted to the ruling by seeking fresh meetings with government; and Environment Minister Miriam Dalli stopped short of excluding any future repetition of the same mistakes: saying simply that the govern- ment will be 'studying the court ruling'. Clearly, this not enough. One expects that any fu- ture decision – not just on Mizieb and Ahrax; but on public land in general – will not be taken for political reasons; but instead, according to very strict criteria and only under prior consultation with the public. Anything less would be both illegal, and – quite frankly – shameful. 19 November 2012 PM supports embryo freezing ban, 'values are part of Malta's DNA' PRIME Minister Lawrence Gonzi said that moral values formed part of the country's DNA as he addressed the debate over the Embryo Protection Bill, reiterating that the primary aim of the bill was to protect the em- bryo. "I know that it took us years to arrive where we are today. But during these years we listened to consultants, followed the technology and held discussions with all stakeholders. Because above all, we always wanted to protect the em- bryo," he said. Both government and opposition have en- dorsed the banning of embryo freezing. The Prime Minister said that oocyte vitrification was the answer to this moral dilemma. "Protecting the embryo represents who we are, our values. We respect human life: we believe in protecting life from the very begin- ning, even before the birth of the baby," he said. "These values are part of our country's DNA." Gonzi said he was satisfied that the bill was not subject to controversy by both sides of the House. "As legislators, we have the duty to see that the correct laws are applied. As govern- ment we have the duty to see that everyone is given the right to build a family," Gonzi said. He added that it was unfair that there were couples who couldn't have children because they didn't afford to pay for the treatment. "As government we have the duty to provide for them as well. We won't hinder the work carried it out by the private sector, but at the same time we cannot abandon these families." Gonzi said that the bill's aim was to regulate issues which today weren't regulated. "For example, there is nothing in the Maltese law that stops cloning today. With this law, this will become illegal, just like it will become illegal to use embryos for experimentation or making use of surrogate mothers," he said. The prime minister conceded that the five- man committee that will regulate recipients of IVF shouldn't act as a big brother. "While I agree that this authority should do away with excessive red tape and shouldn't over regulate, yet we shouldn't allow any leniency that could either endanger the mother or the baby," he said. ... Quote of the Week "Change keeps us relevant. We cannot stop changing and taking the decisions." Labour Party deputy leader Daniel Micallef addressing the party's general conference and praiing the leadership of Robert Abela for major reforms across all sectors. MaltaToday 10 years ago