Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/326223
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 8 JUNE 2014 6 News JAMES DEBONO THE policy regulating the develop- ment of tall buildings will allow higher construction on the Tigné peninsula, despite the concern expressed by the Rehabilitation Projects Office (RPO), the government office responsible for protecting Valletta's UNESCO World Heritage status, that this could endanger its unique status. The policy on the application and use of the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) – a policy to curtail land spread in favour of higher construction – was approved on 24 May, three months after the RPO's submission warning that Valletta's World Heritage sta- tus may be endangered by more tall buildings in Tigné. The RPO questioned the inclusion of Tigné as one of five locations suit- able for over 11-storey buildings. "Tigné is within the buffer zone and immediate context of Valletta and a significant change in its character will severely affect that of Valletta itself – highly threatening its World Heritage status," a report presented to the Malta Environment and Plan- ning Authority by architects Mirielle Fsadni and Wendy Jo Attard warned. The report calls on MEPA to con- duct a scientific visual assessment in collaboration with UNESCO before individual projects are proposed, with the aim of delineating a buffer zone around Valletta aimed at protecting views towards and from the capital. MEPA replied to the RPO's submis- sion by pointing out that high build- ings already exist in Tigné, which has been designated as a commercial hub. According to MEPA these two fac- tors weigh in favour of locating more tall buildings in the area. "The des- ignation of Tigné as an appropriate location for tall buildings could be an opportunity to consider it holistically with the aim of improving the views from Valletta." For MEPA the issue at stake is whether "more tall buildings will re- sult in more harm to the quality of views from and towards Valletta" or contribute to a "more sensitive and holistic approach" to the visual im- pact on Valletta. MEPA also shot down the idea of a comprehensive study to assess the impact of more tall buildings at Tigné. "The drawing up of boundaries around sensitive historic environ- ments is a very detailed and site spe- cific exercise which goes beyond the scope of the policy." But according to the RPO it is im- perative to recognise that Tigné is within the immediate setting of Valletta, because developing higher buildings in Tigné contradicts an- other clause of the same floor area ratio policy which stresses that tall buildings should be located "away" from the "setting of urban landmarks of local, national and international importance". In its report, the RPO notes that Val- letta is not only an Urban Conserva- tion Area but also the first UNESCO World Heritage city in the world. The report warns that the World Heritage status is not an "automatic right" but can be revoked, as was about to happen to Cologne's Cathe- dral following the proposal of a high- rise building in its vicinity. The designs of the building were later changed to accommodate UNESCO's concerns. Moreover, the Dresden Elbe Valley's World Herit- age status was revoked after a bridge was built over it. According to the RPO, the new policy seems to indicate "that the de- velopment of tall buildings in Tigné is 'inevitable and indisputable' simply because the area has already been committed to high-rise development in the 1992 Fort Manoel and Tigné Development Brief and the Fort Cambridge Development Brief". The FAR policy will make visual and landscape assessments manda- tory for any development. But the RPO says "scientific meth- ods" should be in place to assess the validity of development applications, since methods used in the past were "little more than artists' impressions which can be manipulated at will". The RPO is in fact recommending that visual impact assessments be carried out by MEPA, in collabora- tion with the World Heritage Site Management team. This concern was partially ad- dressed in the approved policy, which includes guidelines on how develop- ers must conduct visual impact as- sessments. Interviewers for Summer 2014 The Malta Council for Science and Technology together with the National Statistics Ofce will be engaging people to help with the collection of statistics on Research and Development. The selected interviewers shall assist the companies to complete the questionnaire during the months of July, August, and September 2014. Appropriate training shall be provided. To be considered for this position, applicants must be: - willing to meet new people in order to carry out face-to-face surveys with different companies and have a polite and courteous disposition; - uent in both Maltese and English and able to communicate effectively; - highly motivated, well organised and committed to meet set deadlines; - in possession of a clean, category B driving license. Should you be interested in the post kindly apply via email, attaching your Curriculum Vitae, to jacqueline.b.barbara@gov.mt by the 11th June, 2014. The Malta Council For Science And Technology, Villa Bighi, Kalkara KKR 1320, Malta www.mcst.gov.mt Interviewers for Summer 2014.indd 2 03/06/2014 10:40:34 Tigné threatens Valletta's World Heritage status PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD MEPA's tall buildings' policy was approved despite concerns by a government body about the impact of higher construction on Valletta's World Heritage status PL aide's conviction has no effect under civil service rules MATTHEW VELLA LABOUR candidate Cyrus Engerer, who serves as a consultant to two gov- ernment ministers, may be above the scrutiny of the Public Service Com- mission – the body regulating the civil service – despite a conviction by an Ap- peals Court earlier last month. Under Article 16 of the PSC's discipli- nary procedures, when "public officers" are found guilty of a criminal charge, the Public Service Commission must make a recommendation to the Prime Minister as to whether "such miscon- duct has a direct or indirect relation to the duties of the officer concerned." It is unclear whether Engerer, who al- so chairs the LGBT consultative coun- cil, falls under the remit of the Public Service Commission. Engerer was convicted to two years' imprisonment, suspended for two years, after an Appeals Court overturned his acquittal last year, for the vilification of his former partner by sending out compromising 'pornographic' images of him to his employer. Engerer instantly withdrew his can- didature for the European Parliament. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat defend- ed Engerer, dubbing him a "soldier of steel" for joining Labour back in 2011 when he was a Nationalist local coun- cillor: it was also at this very moment that police charges were filed against Engerer over the complaint by his former partner. While the Opposition has berated the retention of Engerer as chairman of the LGBT council, accusing him of hav- ing exploited homophobic prejudice against his ex-boyfriend, Engerer's ap- pointment as a person of trust excludes him from any disciplinary oversight from the Public Service Commission. The Constitution does not define "public officers" those people employed outside of the civil service – such as the members of ministries' private secre- tariats. Indeed, the PSC itself remarked in 2013 in its annual report that although it was "justifiable" for ministers to ap- point people on the basis of trust, the Constitution does not provide for such direct appointments. While the Public Service Commission has told MaltaToday that it was legally precluded from confirming whether it will be examining Engerer's conviction under Article 16, Engerer himself con- firmed with MaltaToday that he is "not a public officer." But even Muscat's declaration of support for Engerer make it unlikely that an independent assessment of his conviction and its effects on his role as a consultant to the civil liberties minis- try and LGBT council chairman, would take place. Clearly, the 'unconstitutionality' of ministers' persons of trust is a grey area that the Public Service Commission it- self is aware of. Back in December 2011, the PSC pro- posed amending the Constitution to cover the appointment of staff to min- isters' secretariats: "This instrument would provide for the engagement of such staff on the basis of trust… in con- formity with the Constitution, without limiting the discretion of ministers in staffing their secretariats." A problematic aspect of this however is the fact that persons of trust, who have definite contracts with no entitle- ment to permanent employment, can also be transformed into public service posts "at the stroke of a pen". Engerer serves as a consultant to the equality ministry, and to the European affairs ministry. He was formerly an EU funds officer for the Malta-EU Action Steering Committee (MEUSAC).