Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/252940
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 2 FEBRUARY 2014 News 3 Gay adoption? Paediatricians say a mum and dad is best Council learns of waived €750,000 Freeport fine… 18 months later MIRIAM DALLI IT was a rude awakening for the cash- strapped Birzebuggia local council to find out, 18 months after the deci- sion was taken, that the government Cabinet had granted a waiver on a €750,000 "planning gain fee" that the Malta Freeport was expected to pay into a special fund. Last December, the Birzebbugia lo- cal council was granted the necessary permits to carry out embellishment works in a car park at Wied il-Buni, opposite the Malta Freeport. But when mayor Joseph Farrugia checked in at the Malta Environment and Planning Authority to access the funds through the Urban Improvement Fund, he was told simply that the funds "were no longer available". The funds were supposed to come in from a €750,000 planning gain fee that the Malta Freeport, whose operations are privatised, had to pay as compen- sation on infrastructural works that disturbed the local environment. Farrugia spoke to MaltaToday yes- terday, explaining that when MEPA approves permits for new projects, planning gain fees are paid into the UIF. These funds are then passed on to the local councils to carry out projects improving the locality. "Once MEPA approved our permits to carry out the embellishment works, the local council sought the funds from UIF, which should have come from the Freeport," Farrugia said. "But MEPA told me that, shortly before the general elections, Cabinet ordered the authority to return the money back to Freeport." Farrugia learnt that the Freeport had asked the Cabinet to waive the fee in view of the contribution the Freeport made to the country's economy of the country. "The Cabinet approved the request in 2012 but no one informed us," he said. Farrugia added the local council was now asking Freeport to fund the project in return for the inconven- ience the locality suffers. The planning gain is often sought by MEPA as a means of environmental compensation for impacts that may result from development, which im- pacts cannot be reasonably mitigated. In this case, in 2009 MEPA imposed a €750,000 planning gain fee on the Malta Freeport Terminal when a per- mit to carry out dredging works was granted. The Freeport's operators appealed the MEPA fine, and that same year they lost an appeal contesting the fine. But a few months after they lost the appeal, a legal notice (LN 339 of 2009) was introduced stating that "no plan- ning obligation imposing a payment may be imposed on an applicant for a development permission, in respect of a development of national or strategic significance or a development affect- ing matters of national security". Then Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, stopping short of specifically referring to the Freeport project, had argued that one could not expect pri- vate companies to pay more after car- rying out works that "actually fall un- der government's responsibility". He had argued that dredging was government's responsibility. Shortly afterwards, it was revealed that the Cabinet – and not the Plan- ning Appeals Board – would decide whether the Freeport would have to pay the €750,000. In the summer of 2012, Gonzi's Cab- inet decided that Freeport should not pay the planning gain fee. Contacted by MaltaToday yesterday afternoon, former environment min- ister Mario de Marco explained that this had been a government decision based on the investment that needed to be made by Freeport, coupled with the commitment by the government to effect a number of projects in the area. "I do not recall it being a specific proposal to waiver from my end," he said. mdalli@mediatoday.com.mt MATTHEW VELLA THE Maltese Paediatric Associa- tion has called on MPs to give "due weight" to the "stability and the unique influence that a married cou- ple can give to the child" in a state- ment on the adoption of children by gay couples. The doctors were unequivocal in their statement that married parents created the "best environment" for children, but did not discount gay adoptions outright. "Nonetheless children can thrive well in a variety of family types including single and same-gender parents. The associa- tion is committed to equally support children in traditional and non-tra- ditional families." The statement, signed by presi- dent Prof. Thomas Attard and sec- retary Dr Juanita Debattista, carried the disclaimer that gay adoption was an emotive issue and that the asso- ciation's role was neither to endorse nor condemn sexual orientation. "The guiding principle and main concern of the association is the welfare of the child." The doctors however claimed that there was "a lack of scientific research in the local context" and urged MPs to "proceed with cau- tion" before enacting any laws. "Civil authorities should ensure that all types of families are regu- lated and protected by the law, and supported to build and maintain strong and stable families to pro- vide a healthy environment for their children. The law should also safeguard the civil and legal rights of children irrespective of their families' structure. "In the enactment and imple- mentation of laws regulating adoption, the best interests of the child should be the paramount consideration, and should take precedence over the interests of adults. Emphasis should be placed on a thorough assessment of all ap- plicants in their competency as par- ents to provide affection and secu- rity to the child. Among the several factors that should be considered in the screening process, the Associa- tion recommends that due weight is given to the stability and the unique influence a married couple can give to the child." The Labour government is pio- neering a civil unions bill that will give full equality to gay couples and unmarried opposite-sex couples registered in unions, including the right to adopt children. The Nationalist Opposition says it wants a social impact assessment on the effects of gay adoption. Raphael Vassallo interviews Helena Dalli 'Adopted children of a lesser God' Pages 12-13 Prof. Thomas Attard