Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/952911
maltatoday SUNDAY 11 MARCH 2018 News 5 TIA RELJIC THE past week pitted Labour and the Na- tionalist parties in a battle over which ad- ministration was the most brazen in super- fluous overspending on direct orders. But the race triggered in both media and parliament to dig up the most dirt on who spent the most has also revealed the tena- cious survival of the political class's favourite profession: lawyers. For it turns out that in a parliamentary question revealing €27 million in direct or- ders by the transport ministry under the PN administration of 2008-2013, one of that era's beneficiaries was Robert Abela – one of the Labour MPs leading the skewering on the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), on the direct orders fracas. Abela, who has already come under fire by the PN for consultancy fees he gets for legal services under the present adminis- tration, received over €400,000 in direct orders between 2008 and 2013 as data tabled by Transport Minister Ian Borg in response to a PQ by Labour Whip Byron Camilleri. The direct orders came as a result of a deci- sion by the Planning Authority to outsource its legal caseload to the firm Abela Stafrace Associates, founded by Abela's father and President emeritus George Abela – and erstwhile rival to Joseph Muscat in the 2008 Labour leadership race. The firm was originally contracted by the PA in 2001 when its head of legal services Anthony De Gaetano accused the authority of abusive practices in his regard when he raised a planning complaint against the PA itself. In the ensuring decade, Abela Stra- frace was paid some €1.23 million for legal services up until 2011. The new PQ data lists payments from 2008, when the firm was paid €92,000 in direct orders; €65,000 in 2009, €126,000 in 2010, €74,000 in 2011, and €70,000 in 2012. Today Abela Associates, as the firm is now known, is run by Robert and his wife Lyd- ia, the Labour Party's executive's secretary. Robert Abela, well-liked by Labour voters and also viewed as possible leadership ma- terial, is also a legal consultant to the Prime Minister. His PA legal contract was renewed again after 2013, also by direct order. The firm continued to provide legal servic- es to the PA under the Labour administra- tion, as a PQ raised in Parliament by Nation- alist MP Jason Azzopardi in October of last year revealed that Abela Advocates was paid €110,000 in legal services by the PA in 2017 to date; €168,000 in 2016, €110,000 in 2015, and €88,000 in 2014. All this of course takes place in the context of other PQs revealing €11 million in direct orders issued by national waste agency Was- teserv, and some 223 direct orders issued by the culture ministry for "urgent" and "un- foreseeable" projects such as V18 – which saw the V18 press officer being paid €41,000 and the cultural project manager being granted €126,000. The data provided by the transport minis- ter this week highlighted his PN forerunners' spend in the transport and resources minis- tries of over €27 million in procurement in the form of direct orders – requiring no for- mal call for public tender. While the data seems to be incomplete, it appears that the direct orders issued by the former PN transport ministry for each year were as follows: 2008; €1.37 million, 2009: €4.56 million, 2010; €6.47 million, 2011; €7.49 million, 2012; €6.34 million, 2013; €1.15 million. PN-era direct orders reveal Labour's 'PAC man' among its beneficiaries Robert Abela is viewed as possible leadership material YANNICK PACE ENVIRONMENT minister Jose Herrera presented a motion in parliament on Friday, that will see the Government fulfil its electoral pledge to enshrine environmental protection in the Constitution. Before last June's snap election, and with the environment a great concern for a considerable portion of the population, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had pledged that if elected, his new administration would ensure that "the protection of the environment is given weight and priority, in every governmental decision". The Bill presented by Herrera proposes amending Article 9 of the Constitution which currently re- quires the state to "safeguard the landscape and the historical and ar- tistic patrimony of the Nation". The new sub-article reads: "The State shall protect the environment for the benefit of present and future generations and shall take measures to address the problem of pollution and any other form of environmen- tal degradation in Malta, and to pro- mote the right of action in favour of the environment." In comments to MaltaToday, Her- rera said the amendment would in- troduce a "strong moral obligation" on the part of the government to en- act policy that favours environmen- tal protection. "When we take our oath as MPs we take it to uphold the Constitution, meaning we are obliged to imple- ment the principles in the Consti- tution," said Herrera. "This is a big leap forward for the environment because it will oblige future govern- ments to prioritise it in the various laws they draft." Asked whether the change was merely a cosmetic one that would not impact day-to-day protection of the environment, Herrera pointed out that there were certain issues and principles that while very important, couldn't be judicially enforced. "I tried to see if I could do it judi- cially," insisted the minister. "I can't have a law saying you must preserve the environment, and then have peo- ple suing government if emissions increase for example. The courts can't enforce policy, but the amend- ment will create more political ac- countability on the environment." He also rejected claims that the amendment was purely intended to quell criticism over the Govern- ment's environmental track-record. "You are making the government more politically and morally ac- countable for the environment. It can now be criticised for not having fulfilled its obligations towards the Constitution," he said, adding that the environment would also have to be kept in mind when drafting new laws. "You're creating a second tier of responsibility." Ultimately, he said the "final judges in a democracy are the people" and that if a government failed in its obligations towards the Constitution it would be held accountable by the people. Herrera said he was happy that the Opposition would be supporting the Bill after he met and discussed it with environment spokesperson Jason Azzopardi in a "cordial and productive meeting". Once the amendment has been passed, Herrera said he would be working to create an environmen- tal court that would be tasked with deciding legal matters related to the environment, in line with the general principle soon to be outlined in the Constitution. Azzopardi said he had presented the Bill to the parliamentary group. He said there was "all round" sup- port for the Bill, however, he added that the Opposition reserved the right to present its own amendments at the committee stage. He thanked Herrera for meeting with him and keeping him in the loop as the Bill was being drafted, adding that the minister's approach was as it "aught to be" and contrast- ed with the relationship he had with justice minister Owen Bonnici. Asked what the law would effec- tively change, Azzopardi stressed that it was the insertion of the im- portance of the environment in the Constitution's Declaration of Princi- ples but it was not enforceable in a court of law. He said there were many princi- ples that could be enshrined in the Constitution but ultimately, he said, enforcement was a different kettle of fish. Azzopardi, again reiterating his and the Opposition's support for the Bill, pointed to issues such as the controversial fuel station relocation policy, Malta's air quality and the increase in granted permits in the run-up to general elections report- ed by this newspaper, as examples of legal action that went against the spirit of the principle of environ- mental protection. Jose Herrera puts forward amendment for constitutional protection of the environment The Labour Party had pledged – before the last election – to introduce a 'strong moral and political obligation' for the Government to preserve the environment for future generations Jose Herrera