Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/460957
WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT WEDNESDAY EDITION WEDNESDAY • 11 February 2015 • issue 402 • published every wednesday and sunday €1.00 Newspaper post Editorial - PAGE 10 CONTINUES PAGE 3 Angry NGOs say developers have MEPA 'by the short and curlies' MATTHEW AGIUS MALTA'S environment NGOs have come out in force against plans for a general amnesty on building illegalities which the planning regulator, MEPA, wants to use to reap €20 million in fines and wipe its enforcement slate clean. "MEPA is finally relinquishing all pretence of its role as a regu- latory authority, and putting into question its very reason for exist- ence," Astrid Vella, coordinator of Flimkien ghal-Ambjent Ahjar said. "We have raised the point to the government that develop- ers have MEPA 'by the short and curlies'," she said. In 2012 and 2013, amnesties were introduced to resolve minor infringements of sanitary regula- tions. But Vella said a further am- nesty now can only be intended to absolve gross and unacceptable vi- olations "even potentially to have entire illegal f loors approved." She said this made a mockery of Local Plan height limitations. "Over-development is reaching new heights, as this government seeks to stimulate growth in an industry that has already stif led urban areas." She added that the amnesty would foster a culture of abuse. "This is another action for MEPA to not do its job, rendering the very existence of MEPA question- able, debasing Parliament and making a mockery of the judiciary and respect for law in Malta." The Ramblers Association and the Malta Organic Agriculture Movement said the amnesty would send the wrong message to society. Former PM Zeidan warns of 'Islamic State in the Med' MATTHEW VELLA ISLAMIC State will hold territory on the shores of the Mediterranean within two months "unless Britain and its allies help to restore order in Libya," the country's former prime minister has warned. Ali Zeidan, the former Libyan prime minister who was kidnapped by rebel militias from the Corinthia Tripoli hotel during his tenure, said that elements of Islamic State, or Daesh, were present in most major cities in Libya. His warning comes just weeks af- ter an attack by suicide bombers af- filiated to the Islamic State of Tripoli on the Corinthia Tripoli, which left security guards, guests and the at- tacking terrorists dead after a car bomb was detonated outside the ho- tel. The suicide bombers later deto- nated bombs on the top floor of the Maltese-owned property. Zeidan told The Times of London that "the lack of a fully functioning government and stockpiles of weap- ons and ammunition seized from the fallen regime of the late Colonel Gaddafi" has made the north Afri- can country particularly susceptible to the jihadists. CONTINUES PAGE 5 The wrong slogan? It's all festive cheer for Valletta's Pawlini as they celebrate the shipwreck of national patron St Paul on the Maltese islands in 60AD - but does the 'Je Suis St Paul' slogan make a mockery of the Charlie Hebdo outrage or is it simply Maltese black humour? More photos on PAGE 24 PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD