Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/723651
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 7 SEPTEMBER 2016 7 News Dwarna with Mariella Dimech every Tuesday at 21.00 on TVM2 Muscat 'disappointed' at move, Busuttil welcomes decision to place onus on industry CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 The fish farm operators were backed by Opposition MP Ryan Callus, who argued that revoking the permits from one day to the next would be "extreme". "This all seems like a knee- jerk reaction to public anger at the slime and at the PA's lack of respect to the environmental shown in the past few weeks," he said, ostensibly referring to their decision to green-light skyscrap- ers in Sliema and Mriehel. He said that fish farm operators must agree to relocate their farms within specified timeframes and commit to more stringent envi- ronmental conditions in their permits, and that state monitor- ing of their operations should in- crease. Fish farms came under scru- tiny this summer after they were blamed for slime that contami- nated the sea, which Ian Refalo said was the result of a certain type of fish feed that was being fed to tuna and that has since been changed. "We accept that it was a mis- take to use that fish feed, but we changed it and used skimmers to clean out the slime to remedy the problem," the seasoned lawyer said. Following revelations that half the tuna cages operated by four fish farms were illegal, the opera- tors were served with an emer- gency enforcement order to pre- sent a statement on how they will address the illegalities. "If the fish farm industry fails, the impact on the Maltese econo- my will be disastrous," Pio Vallet- ta warned. "The PA shouldn't just look at the regulations, but at the consequences of their decisions." He also argued that the state should shoulder it share of re- sponsibility for the environmen- tal shortcomings of fish farms, after failing to regulate or moni- tor the industry. Ian Refalo said that revoking the permits could run counter to the Labour government's own aquaculture policy to expand fish farm operations, as stated in a 2014 policy document. However, PA lawyer Robert Abela and Environment and Re- sources Authority (ERA) chair- man Victor Axiak were adamant in that the fish farm operators have been given ample time to get their house in order. Abela argued that the authori- ties would have continued closing an eye to the fish farms' f lagrant illegalities had the slime problem not erupted this summer and cre- ated a media storm. "We shouldn't close an eye on their illegalities, just because they form part of an industry that generates millions of euros. What message will that send out?" Axiak said that the slime is only "the tip of the iceberg" as far as environmental damage caused by fish farms is concerned. "They are now pleading that they need more time to relocate but they were told to relocate back in 2005 and failed to do so," he said. The Labour Party's representa- tive MP Joe Sammut had excused himself from the meeting, citing a conf lict of interest in his work as consultant to people with a direct interest in the aquaculture industry. 'Proof that Busuttil is part of the elite' – PL The Labour Party lashed out at Busuttil's response to the PA's de- cision as proof that he is "part of the elite". "Busuttil is defending people who pollute the sea and work- ing against people's best inter- ests," the PL said in a statement. "While the government is taking action over this issue, the Oppo- sition is putting people's interests on the backburner and yet has the gall to claim that it believes in safeguarding the environment." 'Senseless move for Muscat to get green brownie points' – PN The Nationalist Party respond- ed by insisting that Muscat's sud- den decision to revoke the fish farms' permits was a "senseless" move, aimed solely at earning the Prime Minister environmental brownie points to counter poor environmental decisions taken by the government. "The fish farm industry con- tributes €150 million to the econ- omy every year, and hundreds of workers and their families de- pend on it," PN MPs Ryan Cal- lus, Marthese Portelli and Toni Bezzina said in a joint statement. "The public anger [at fish farms] is justified, and the industry shouldn't be allowed to pollute the environment. The PN's pro- posed solution is one of common sense that will allow fish farms to continue contributing to the economy, with respect to the en- vironment." Lawyer John Refalo (left) and his father Prof. Ian Refalo, who represent the fish farm operators Busuttil claims Muscat 'playing a political game' by taking hard stance on fish farms TIM DIACONO OPPOSITION leader Simon Busuttil has dismissed Joseph Muscat's criticism of the Plan- ning Authority's decision to postpone a potential revocation of fish farm licenses as a "politi- cal game". "It was a double act. Whenever has the Planning Authority gone against the Prime Minister's wishes?" Busuttil told MaltaTo- day. "It was clearly following the Prime Minister's orders today, so as to allow him to say he was disappointed and come off as an environmental champion after he received flak for the PA's ap- proval of the Townsquare and Mriehel high-rise projects." The PA board met yesterday to decide whether to revoke the permits of four tuna farms – two off Marsaxlokk, one of St Paul's Bay, and one off Comino, in the wake of revelations that around half their fish cages were illegal. It ultimately decided to gave fish farm operators two weeks to reach an agreement with the au- thorities on how to address the vast illegalities in their farms and to come up with a plan to relocate the farms further off- shore. Muscat responded by tweet- ing that the fish farm industry had years to address illegalities and relocate their farms further offshore. However, Busuttil dismissed this as political posturing, argu- ing that Muscat had as Opposi- tion leader fought against the then PN administration's plans to relocate the fish farms further offshore. "This is the same Labour govern- ment that recently issued a regulari- sation scheme for planning illegali- ties," he said. "The Labour gov- e r n m e n t has done n o t h i n g to address these ille- galities in three and a half years, so why did it suddenly want to revoke their permits from one day to the next? It is clear that he is over-reacting to public pressure he received by giving two families [Gasan and Tumas] permits to build five towers in Sliema and Mriehel in one day." The PN leader insisted that fish farm operators must do far more to safeguard the environ- ment, and that the Opposition will vote in favour of revoking their permits if they fail to com- ply within the stipulated two weeks. "The environment is a num- ber one priority for me but reasonableness is important too. Even people who build a window illegally should receive a warning before action is taken, let alone an industry that contributes €150 million a year to the econo- my and em- ploys hun- dreds of workers." Simon Busuttil