Friends of the Earth (Malta) director Martin Galea De Giovanni will be the ENGOs’ representative on the board of the Environmental Resources Authority, after being nominated for the post by a number of activist groups. He will be replacing Prof Alan Deidun who resigned his post earlier this year.
Since joining FoEM in 2000, Mr. Galea De Giovanni has been responsible for issues relating to various environmental topics with a main focus on agriculture, biodiversity, waste and climate justice. He also represents FoEM at international meetings and serves as an Executive Board Member at Friends of the Earth Europe in Brussels. De Giovanni holds an M.Sc in Environmental Management and Planning from the University of Malta.
In a statement, the groups thanked outgoing representative Prof Deidun and praised his sterling service on the ERA board right up to his resignation.
The groups have also reiterated their call for ERA’s board meetings to be open to the public, noting that their request has already been relayed twice to Environmental Minister Aaron Farrugia, however no reply has been forthcoming.
“In the interests of transparency and integrity, the public should be able to follow and make representations during ERA board meetings, where important decisions affecting the environment and everyone’s quality of life are taken. The current system makes it impossible for residents to be represented. We also believe that the votes of every board member should be minuted and made public, in line with the principle of responsibility.”
The groups are also asking for changes to PA and ERA regulations so as to be able to nominate a substitute for Mr Galea De Giovanni as well as the NGO representative on the Planning Board.
“There have already been two key Planning Authority hearings where the NGOs’ representative was forced to recuse herself for having previously declared her vote – by simply carrying out her duty and voting in an earlier hearing on the same case. This led to an unjust situation where the NGOs were robbed of their vote and voice on the PA board, and by extension, robbed thousands of residents and objectors of their representation.”
“We believe that both of our demands are in line with the concept of transparency pledged by Dr Farrugia upon becoming Minister for the Environment, and he should be acting to rectify two situations which put us and citizens at a further disadvantage. We look forward to seeing Dr Farrugia implement these changes to guarantee our representation.”
Signatories:
Moviment Graffitti
Birdlife Malta
Rota
Malta Youth in Agriculture (MaYa)
Nature Trust
Friends of the Earth
Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar
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Il-gruppi jtennu t-talba biex il-laqgħat tal-bord ikunu miftuħin għall-pubbliku
Martin Galea De Giovanni ser ikun ir-rappreżentant tal-NGOs ambjentali fuq il-bord tal-Awtorità għar-Riżorsi Ambjentali (ERA), wara li ġie nominat minn numru ta’ għaqdiet. Galea De Giovanni se jieħu l-post tal-Professur Alan Deidun li rriżenja iżjed kmieni din is-sena.
Galea De Giovanni huwa Direttur ta’ Friends of the Earth (Malta), u sa mill-2000 ilu attiv fi kwistjonijiet ambjentali relatati mal-agrikoltura, il-bijodiversità, l-immaniġġjar tal-iskart u l-ġustizzja klimatika. Huwa jirrappreżenta wkoll lill-NGO fil-laqgħat internazzjonali, kif ukoll bħala Membru tal-Bord Eżekuttiv ta’ Friends of the Earth Europe fi Brussell. Galea De Giovanni huwa gradwat b’M.Sc fil-Ġestjoni u l-Ippjanar Ambjentali mill-Università ta’ Malta.
Fi stqarrija, il-gruppi rringrazzjaw lill-Professur Deidun tal-ħidma tiegħu fuq il-bord tal-ERA sal-mument tar-riżenja tiegħu.
Il-gruppi ambjentali tennew it-talba tagħhom sabiex il-laqgħat tal-bordijiet tal-ERA jinfetħu għall-pubbliku, u ġibdu l-attenzjoni li din it-talba diġà saret darbtejn lill-Ministru tal-Ambjent Farrugia, iżda mingħajr tweġiba.
“Huwa fl-interess tat-trasparenza u l-integrità li l-pubbliku għandu jkun jista’ jsegwi u jagħmel rappreżentazzjonijiet matul il-laqgħat tal-bord tal-ERA, fejn jittieħdu deċiżjonijiet importanti li jaffetwaw l-ambjent u l-kwalità tal-ħajja ta’ kulħadd. Taħt is-sistema attwali huwa impossibbli li jiġu rappreżentati r-residenti. Aħna nemmnu wkoll li l-voti ta’ kull membru tal-bord għandhom jitniżżlu fil-minuti u jiġu ppubblikati, kif jitlob il-prinċipju tar-responsabbiltà.”
L-ENGOs qed jitolbu wkoll li jinbidlu r-regoli tal-PA u l-ERA sabiex ikunu jistgħu jinnominaw sostitut għas-Sur Galea De Giovanni kif ukoll għar-rappreżentant tal-NGOs fuq il-Bord tal-Awtorità tal-Ippjanar.
“Diġà kellna żewġ seduti ewlenin tal-Awtorità tal-Ippjanar fejn ir-rappreżentanta tal-NGOs kellha tirtira minħabba li kienet iddikjarat il-vot tagħha minn qabel. Iżda dan seħħ waqt it-twettiq ta’ dmirha stess fejn kellha tivvota fuq l-istess applikazzjoni f’seduta preċedenti. Dan wassal għal sitwazzjoni inġusta fejn l-NGOs tħallew mingħajr vot u vuċi fuq il-bord tal-PA, u wkoll li għexieren ta’ residenti u persuni li oġġezzjonaw ma kellhom ebda rappreżentazzjoni.”
“Aħna nemmnu li ż-żewġ talbiet tagħna jaqblu mal-kunċett ta’ trasparenza li wiegħed Dr Farrugia meta sar Ministru għall-Ambjent, u li għandu jaġixxi sabiex jirranġa żewġ sitwazzjonijiet li jpoġġu lilna u lir-residenti fi żvantaġġ ulterjuri. Nistennew bil-ħerqa li Dr Farrugia jimplimenta dawn il-bidliet sabiex tiġi ggarantita r-rappreżentazzjoni tagħna.
Firmatarji:
Moviment Graffitti
Birdlife Malta
Rota
Malta Youth in Agriculture (MaYa)
Nature Trust
Friends of the Earth
