Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/208710
6 News maltatoday, SUNDAY, 10 NOVEMBER 2013 Government selling country's health to developers – NGOs Green NGOs lament the big business stranglehold on political parties TIM ATTARD MONTALTO RECENT development permits controversially approved by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority have underlined the government's willingness to sell the country's health and well-being to developers, environmental NGOs said. While announcing a protest march to be held on Saturday 30 November, the NGOs slammed the lack of transparency in the way permits are issued by MEPA. The NGOs involved in the protest are Din l-Art Helwa, Birdlife Malta, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, Friends of the Earth, Moviment Graffitti, Greenhouse Malta, Malta Organic Agricultural Movement, Nature Trust Malta and the Ramblers' Association. In a press conference addressed by green NGO leaders Simone Mizzi and Astrid Vella this morning, the organisations expressed their anger and concern over a series of permits issued by MEPA, with the controversial Mistra development being the final straw. Describing the state of the Planning Authories as "tragic", the NGOs said that despite the Labour Party's harsh criticism on the Delimara power plant before the March election, it was repeating the same errors after being elected to office. Highlighting a recent World Health Organisation study which showed that 14% of diseases are linked to the environment, the NGOs said that over-development was affecting the country's health. Insisting that the NGOs were not opposed to progress and development, Astrid Vella from Flimkien ghal-Ambjent Ahjar said that development should not come to the detriment of "clean air, open spaces From left: Edward Mallia, Astrid Vella, Romano Cassar and Simone Mizzi and people's health". "We should not sell our own health to developers, however that is what this government is doing," Vella said. She said that the environmentalists were not the only losers in the equation. The tourism sector, and consequently the economy, would feel the consequences of such mismanagement when foreigners stop coming to Malta, if all it had to offer was "urban canyons". "Would tourists really be willing to spend money to come to Malta's beaches, if they are plunged in shade?" she asked, adding that it was the Maltese who would ulti- mately be paying for such projects through their taxes. Vella also criticised the small number of enforcement officers, and said that they could not be described as "proactive" as all they seemed to do was to react to complaints. She said that it was "outrageous" that even the case officers, who themselves were assigned to draw up reports in order to approve or disapprove of such projects, many times do not even go on site to carry out the proper studies. "These people are deciding the fate of many communities without doing the proper research," she said. On her part, Simone Mizzi from Din L-Art Helwa pointed out that anyone driving from Valletta to St Julian's would notice a distinct lack of open green spaces as well as a lack of aesthetically-pleasing buildings "which would make any Maltese proud". They also expressed their disappointment at the approval of the Mistra development last week, saying it lacked transparency. "The authorities' obligations should be towards the Maltese people and the environment," Mizzi said, adding that unnecessary buildings were being constructed all over the islands. Both Vella and Mizzi were in agreement that MEPA's plans to separate the Planning and Environment departments could have little effect unless the Authority's ideology, as a whole, did not change. "No amount of procedural change will mask the fact that MEPA's priorities are not what they should be," Mizzi said. Asked whether big businesses and developers who bankrolled the two big political parties had excessive influence over MEPA, Vella said that it was obvious that "as long as big businesses fund political parties there can be no transparency in the development sector". Unconstitutional rent law must change – DANIEL MIZZI LAW Commissioner Franco Debono is urging Parliament to act "urgently" in amending Maltese rent laws after a groundbreaking Constitutional Court judgment found the law preventing the eviction of tenants upon expiration of the pre-1979 temporary leases was unconstitutional. The Court of Constitutional Appeal confirmed a decision that found the law that converts pre1979 leases into permanent rental agreements, as preventing landlords' fundamental right to the enjoyment of property. Critics have now warned that the judgment is a wake-up call for MPs to amend 'outdated' laws such as the 1959 Housing Decontrol Ordinance, as otherwise the government risks being sued in numerous claims for compensation by landlords. This stand was echoed by Franco Debono, who said the Constitutional Court had the right to declare laws as unconstitutional, a right vested in the checks and balances that is allowed under the doctrine of the separation of powers. "If the parliament overlooks the judgment and fails to act, this important and fundamental mechanism would be dangerously eroded and undermined." The automatic conversion of temporary leases into rental agreements is foremost bone of contention between tenants and landlords, with the latter often up in arms due to the paltry rentcontrolled payments they are still receiving. One such landlord, and authority on the property market, Chris Testaferrata Moroni Viani, said that the decision was a step towards an effective remedy for the "mass injustice" that the lease conversion imposes on landlords. "While providing indirect social housing and alleviating poverty concerns, the law has imposed a string of adverse effects on landlords. "Coupled with the paltry rents landlords receive and the fact that tenants can permanently reside in a dwelling owned by third parties, even after the expiration of the Franco Debono: "Parliament must not overlook the landmark judgement but implement amendments" original lease, landlord have been facing a situation where they cannot enjoy their own property due to the automatic conversion," he said. Under the Housing Decontrol Ordinance, any lease of up to 30 years contracted before 21 June 1979, can be turned into a rent and as a result, tenants living in houses on a temporary lease retained the right to stay in these houses, and pay an annual rent equivalent to double the lease they paid. "Conversely, landlords do not have a chance of taking back their rightful property and in some cases, they had to enter into loans to buy homes, while tenants resided in the property rightfully owned by landlords," Testaferrata said. "Due to the fact that people think that they have a permanent right to occupy a property belonging to others, some tenants have been taking advantage of the archaic laws while at the same time owning numerous other properties leased out for today's rent fees." Testaferrata underlined that the properties can no longer be leased out at 1979 prices. "There are cases where landlords are only being paid just €116 a year, a far cry from the rent fees in today's market."