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Planning tribunal chair forced to recuse himself from decisions involving Joseph Portelli JAMES DEBONO DEVELOPER Joseph Portelli's company has successfully secured the recusal of Environment and Planning Tribunal (EPRT) chair- man Joseph Borg from decisions involving the construction group. J. Portelli Projects had asked Borg to recuse himself just four hours before the EPRT was due to take decisions on appeals against the approval of two projects in Qala and Sannat proposed by Mark Agius and Eric Saliba, two associates of the property mag- nate. The company said the EPRT chairman had personally objected to Portelli's 88-apartment pro- ject in Balzan, which was revoked two weeks ago by the same tribu- nal, which on that occasion was chaired by Robert Sarsero. The request was signed by law- yer Ian Stafrace who served as chief executive of the Planning Authority between 2011 and 2013. In its decree, the tribunal noted that J. Portelli Projects did not ap- pear in any of the documents per- taining to any of the developments for which judgment was set to be delivered that day, as well as the other application, mentioned in the request. The application for the Balzan development was submitted by Clifton Cassar on behalf of CF De- velopers Limited and not on be- half of J. Portelli Projects. Moreo- ver, the two permits on which the judgment was due to be delivered had been submitted by Eric Saliba and Mark Agius. This effectively confirms the long-held belief by environmen- tal activists that Saliba, Agius and their respective companies were simply fronts or associates of Jo- seph Portelli. Furthermore, the tribunal in- sisted that its chairperson, Joseph Borg, had objected to the project in Balzan in his personal capacity, and that the legal application was intended to "gag" and stop him from exercising his rights as an "ordinary" citizen. It also accused the Portelli group of "intimidating the tribunal" noting that it had not raised any reservations on the tribunal's composition during the proceedings themselves but wait- ed for the last day when the tribu- nal's decision was due. Borg had made his representa- tions against the Balzan devel- opment in a public hearing more than six months ago. The tribunal also accused Portel- li of "forum shopping" noting that recusals "cannot be invoked arbi- trarily by one of the parties that may feel more comfortable or pro- tected in front of one member of the judiciary than another." Yet, the EPRT chairperson still decided to recuse himself from all appeals pending in front of the tri- bunal in which J. Portelli Projects has a stake. Borg recused himself because of the "principle that justice should not only be done but should be seen to be done" to ensure a "fair hearing". "The Chairperson has always done his duty without fear and fa- vour and in full serenity, and thus thinks that in this case it would be just and opportune for him to recuse himself," he said. The two appeals on which judg- ments were set to be delivered last week involved sprawling apart- ment blocks in Sannat and Ghar Boffa in Qala on which construc- tion is at a very advanced stage. KARL AZZOPARDI DELAYS in issuing car number plates by Transport Malta are leav- ing importers with fully stocked garages, as owners await their new vehicles, MaltaToday has learnt. Since the beginning of the year, car dealerships are having to wait up to three weeks for the trans- port authority to issue new num- ber plates, according to industry sources. "The number plates used to ar- rive within 48 hours, but now they take up to 14 working days," a car dealer who spoke to this newspa- per under condition of anonymity said. A Transport Malta spokesperson said the situation has developed due to a lack of resources and an increase in registrations. "After increasing the number of people working on these appli- cations, TM is in the process of introducing more workers in the concerned section to alleviate this problem," the spokesperson said. Questions on when the service should resume to its normal time- frames were left unanswered. Industry experts slammed the transport authority for refusing to start the digitalisation of its system. "We are in 2023, how are we sol- diering on with a manual system, and not moving towards digitising the system and making it more streamlined?" one irate importer said. He said the delays are also creat- ing cash-flow issues for the compa- nies. "We have a two-to-three-week backlog, and it is obviously af- fecting our cashflow. I have half a month stock of brand-new cars waiting for a number plate at our garages," the auto dealer said. A spokesperson for the Asso- ciation of Car Importers Malta (ACIM) said the delay is affecting companies' operations in many ways. "Our sales teams are inun- dated with queries from clients, who have their vehicle registration pending." "At a business level, the impact of delayed processes at TM has a negative impact on stock holding levels, storage facilities and cash flow due to sold vehicles having to be stored for longer. More im- portantly, it impacts the level of service we provide to our clients who in turn would have their own requirements and commitments for their new vehicles," ACIM said. Delayed car plates burden importers with stocked garages and cash flow issues Portelli Projects had demanded recusal of board chairman from all projects involving the group because Joseph Borg had objected, as a private citizen, to the company's application in Balzan Joseph Portelli