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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 2 JULY 2014 7 News Independent claiming that he was seen at the bay with a Gozitan en- trepreneur overseeing works on a cleared site in San Blas. Of more serious concern are the alleged business links between Butt- igieg's spouse and a property devel- oper with connections with the Goz- itan entrepreneur, Joseph Portelli. Creditinfo lists Lorraine Buttigieg as a shareholder in MMB Limited and as a company secretary in two struck-off property development companies, namely Ta' Pinu Devel- opments Limited and Zebbiegh De- velopments Limited. "The companies mentioned by The Malta Independent were closed down three years ago," Buttigieg said, adding that he and his wife had done away with any business interests due to his appointment at MEPA. While in a small country like Malta such business links are bound to surface, this case highlights the importance of full public disclosure by MEPA's senior officials of any present or past financial interests which may result in potential em- barrassment for the authority. It is also worth noting that before his appointment as CEO, Buttigieg served as a case officer and then as a senior planning officer assigned to major projects - a sensitive role where he was scrutinising plans which had a bearing on applications presented by both government and private developers. The code of ethics approved in 2008 clearly explains the conflict of interest faced by MEPA employees. MEPA employees and appointees "may own or have interests in prop- erty that may be affected by planning and land management decisions". This creates a "real potential for conflict of interest". According to the code of ethics MEPA employees are expected to declare their financial interests, in- cluding the interest of spouses and children. Perhaps it may be useful if the declarations made by senior of- ficials like board members and the CEO are also published. It may even make sense to subject officials to the grilling of parlia- ment's committee on development and planning. Moreover it underscores the im- portance of a transparent selection process. While Ian Stafrace was cho- sen by direct appointment, Buttigieg was chosen after an internal call but only after being identified as former parliamentary secretary Michael Farrugia's reference point in MEPA. MaltaToday has also revealed that Stafrace and Joseph Portelli were at the bay at the same time on Sunday of last week, raising the suspicion of a case of mistaken identity where the present CEO was mistaken for the former CEO. Stafrace confirmed he knew that Portelli had bought the land in ques- tion but never discussed any busi- ness plans. Portelli confirmed he often sought advice from Stafrace on other mat- ters after the latter resigned from MEPA. "I started using his services after he left MEPA," Portelli said. On its own this declaration raises questions about revolving doors; i.e. the movement of personnel between roles as legislators and regulators and the industries affected by the legislation and regulations. While Stafrace is doing nothing il- legal, as the authority's former legal advisor and its former CEO, he may be party to insider knowledge. In the past there have been cases of MEPA officials who served as con- sultants or architects of developers after leaving MEPA. A code of ethics for MEPA employ- ees issued in 2008 states that former employees should not be involved in any application or planning issue in which they were previously involved as MEPA officers. Nor are they al- lowed to divulge to third parties, nor make any use of confidential information to which they were previously privy during their MEPA employment. But other countries go further than this, The French penal code governing public officials who move between the public and private sectors re- quires a three-year wait between working in the government and tak- ing a job in the private sector. Ban on sanctioning The Tal-Blas case also raises ques- tions about the government's inten- tion to remove the blanket ban on sanctioning illegalities in scheduled zones introduced in 2010. Irrespective of his intentions, Por- telli cannot apply to regularise any illegal development on this site be- cause MEPA can no longer sanction any development on scheduled sites like San Blas. But if the law is changed in the way proposed by the government he would still have the opportunity to apply to regularise the works under- taken in the past weeks. Scheduled sites include historical buildings or sites which enjoy vari- ous degrees of protection because of scientific or natural importance. Article 70 of the Environment and Development Planning Act enacted by the previous government in De- cember 2010 prohibits MEPA from regularising any illegal develop- ments in any scheduled property. The sixth schedule of the Environ- ment and Development Planning Act also bans MEPA from regular- ising any illegal extension to ODZ development if this was carried out after 2008. But the consultation document "For an efficient planning system" now proposes the deletion of the sixth schedule, which will be re- placed by the imposition of daily fines. This does not mean that MEPA will automatically legalise these de- velopments. It only means that once again MEPA will be able to consider applications to regularise these de- velopments. The risk is that owners of these sites will be given the im- pression that they can build now and sanction later. The greatest risk is that this will give owners, especially those making money from illegal lidos, beach restaurants or kiosks the chance to further delay MEPA enforcement actions. San Blas: Conflicts of interest and mistaken identities MEPA officers discussing the nature of the property with one of the owners of the field (right)

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