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6 News maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 2 OCTOBER 2013 No strategy for MEPA to address 2,065 pending enforcements MEPA has outstanding caseload of 3,500 enforcement orders on illegalities but lacks the resources for action JAMES DEBONO A new performance audit by the National Audit Office (NAO) has found that the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA) is lacking any policies or strategies to address a backlog of 3,500 enforcement notices, which includes 2,065 cases where immediate action could be taken. In its performance audit on MEPA's enforcement action unit, the NAO reprimanded the authority over the lack of any structure to regularly monitor outside development zones (ODZ – that is, areas where no building activity is permitted) for illegalities. Between 1993 and 2011, 2,065 enforcement notices were issued and are still outstanding – even though they could be enforced with immediate effect. The number of executable cases, where MEPA can take some form of action against the contravener, represents 61% of the total outstanding caseload of 3,500 cases. On average, cases have been pending for a period of 9.2 years. Nearly 600 cases date back to before 2000. The report also reveals that the authority has still to recoup around 84 per cent of the invoiced expenses with respect to enforcement between 2006 and 2012 within the ODZ. This amounts to €438,329 up to March 2013. The report quotes MEPA officials admitting that the enforcement section was generally "not awarded high priority in resource allocation". It was only in 2011 that the first professional enforcement job description CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 was created within the authority, enabling the enforcement directorate to hire professional staff. In more recent years MEPA concentrated on more recent cases and was not in a position to allocate priority to the processing of the 2,065 cases. But the report also reveals that only 21% of enforcements issued between January and June 2012 have been concluded. Still, the imposition of daily fines in November 2012 is having a positive impact, with a number of contraveners removing illegalities within 16 days after notification of the daily fine. But since the daily fine mechanism was only introduced a few months ago, its impacts could not be analysed in detail. Moreover, following the MEPA reform in 2010, the enforcement of- ficers were not involved in the validation of planning applications to ensure that no pending illegalities were on site. This created a situation where the Enforcement Directorate did not have enough resources to deal with outstanding cases and extend its enforcement coverage to ODZ areas. A lack of routine surveillance over ODZ areas also meant that monitoring was restricted to areas where MEPA receives its complaints or is processing planning applications. Despite this strain on resources, the Enforcement Directorate has to deal with daily complaints about illegalities from the public. Nearly 3,000 complaints were received between 2007 and June 2012. The NAO analysed 211 reports of alleged illegalities received in the first six months of 2012. The analy- sis revealed that on average, investigations on alleged irregularities were concluded in 38 days. But the NAO was unable to determine the time taken to conclude investigations in 71 cases where documentation was lacking. The absence of documentation implied that the enforcement work was still in progress, which means that these cases have been pending for an average of 270 days. Complaints from anonymous sources accounted for 44% of MEPA's complaints on enforcement. The NAO believes such sources are supplying imprecise information and abusing the complaints system. In fact, anonymous reports take more time to process, as these lack detail and the possibility of follow-up. The NAO recommended that MEPA allocate priority to complaints from known sources. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 'I am bound by China says it has confidentiality' – excellent relations with Grech both political parties Attorney General Peter Grech ZAMMIT is also charged with trading in influence. He denies the charges. He was charged on 12 December with requesting a multi-million bribe on behalf of Dalli, from the European smokeless tobacco lobby in return to lift a ban on the trade of snus. Although Dalli is mentioned in the Zammit charge sheet, Rizzo never pressed charges throughout the following months, during which Malta was in the middle of a prolonged three-month electoral campaign. In court last week, Zammit's defence counsel Edward Gatt said that the defence wanted to summon Commissioner of Police Peter Paul Zammit to declare in court whether the charges of bribery against Zammit still stand. "We want to know what the position of the police is vis-à-vis the alleged author of this bribery charge. Because if Dalli is not to be charged (as stated by Peter Paul Zammit in the media), it would be the Attorney General now to decide whether this charge is to be retained." "It's interesting to see what the Attorney General's opinion is, having given Rizzo one opinion and a different one to the new commissioner of police," Gatt said. PARTICIPATING in public events organised by the Nationalist Party, Busuttil frequently asked what China had to gain from the agreement. He also suggested that the Chinese government could have been buying support around the EU negotiating table. "China does not have any vested interest or hidden agenda," the Office of the Ambassador declared. Emphasising that the relations between China and Malta have been developing "very well" irrespective of the political party in government, the ambassador's spokesperson said China was ready to strengthen exchanges cooperation with Malta in all areas. "We reiterate that China's principle of conducting economic cooperation with Malta or any other country is consistent and remains unchanged: which is mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit," he said. The spokesperson added that China wanted to achieve a win-win result, bringing benefits to both countries and their people. The Chinese Embassy also confirmed that the energy cooperation YOUR FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY www.maltatoday.com.mt The Chinese Embassy in St Julian's Chinese Ambassador to Malta Cai Jinbiao between Malta and the Chinese stateowned company was initiated in June 2013 when the company's chairman, Wang Yundan, visited Malta and met Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi. "The two sides discussed possible cooperation in the energy sector on the basis of mutual benefit," the spokesman said. In a parliamentary question tabled by Mizzi on Monday, in reply to a question raised by Opposition MP George Pullicino, the energy minister said the interest in the MOU started in April 2013. Asked to state who are the persons representing the Maltese government, Mizzi only said that discussions "involved the Ministry for Energy and Enemalta". The Office of the Ambassador also pointed out that the Chinese Communist Party maintained "excellent relations" with both the Nationalist and Labour parties. "This forms an important part of our bilateral relations," the Chinese Embassy added, noting that Cai Jinbao had recently met the Opposition Leader. The said meeting had attracted Labour's attention and accused Busuttil of keeping the meeting "hidden" from the media. The Chinese Embassy described the meeting with Busuttil as having been "cordial and constructive" during which they reviewed the excellent relationship between the two countries and the two parties over the years. "Busutill said that PN would continue to support a stronger ChinaMalta relationship," Jinbao's spokesperson said.

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