Moviment Graffitti strongly condemns the Planning Authority’s (PA) ongoing refusal to publish the identities of public officers preparing key reports, despite the Ombudsman’s clear conclusion that this practice must end.

A complaint had been lodged with the Ombudsman following the PA’s decision to withhold the names of officers preparing reports for Summary Applications. In his recommendations, the Ombudsman stated:

1. The identity of the individual responsible for making a decision on an application be publicly disclosed at the time the decision is rendered;

2. The decision-making process should be conducted in a public forum;

3. The identities of the officers involved in preparing the recommendation, specifically the Case Officer and the Endorsing Officer, should also be made publicly available without delay.

This issue came to the fore with the approval of PA/02035/21, an application seeking to sanction part of Joseph Portelli’s development in Sannat that had been previously revoked by the Court. Alarmingly, the Case Officer’s report recommended approval of this application while omitting the crucial fact that the development in question had been nullified by the Court and was, by law, ineligible for sanctioning.

The report was published without naming the officer who drew it up or the officer who endorsed it. This lack of transparency resulted in a lack of accountability for a blatantly illegal decision that made a mockery of the Courts.

After the Ombudsman presented his findings, the PA responded by asserting its intention to continue this malpractice, citing among other reasons: “…to keep the names internal for legitimate obvious reasons, one of them being the publication of names on News Portals and Social Media.”

Hiding the identities of public officers drafting and approving such reports is part of a rotten system designed to favour developers and provide them with impunity. The illegal sanctioning of Portelli’s penthouses in Sannat occurred after the building was completed while an appeal was still underway. The promised reform of the planning appeals law remains unfulfilled, and other developers have now followed suit, seeking to illegally sanction structures with permits revoked by the Court.

The situation has worsened with Johann Buttigieg – a person with a proven track record of close ties to the island’s biggest developers – returning to head the PA. In this context, withholding the names of public officers preparing reports makes it even harder to verify the integrity of PA processes, including potential conflicts of interest.

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L-Ombudsman iwissi lill-PA biex ma tkomplix taħbi l-identità tal-uffiċjali li jħejju r-rapporti, iżda l-abbuż ikompli għaddej

Il-Moviment Graffitti qed jikkundanna bil-qawwa l-għażla tal-Awtorità tal-Ippjanar (PA) li tkompli tirrifjuta li tippubblika l-identità tal-uffiċjali pubbliċi li qed jippreparaw rapporti importanti, minkejja l-konklużjoni ċara min-naħa tal-Ombudsman li din il-prattika jeħtieġ li tieqaf.

Wara d-deċiżjoni tal-PA li żżomm mistura l-ismijiet tal-uffiċjali li qed jippreparaw ir-rapporti għal Applikazzjonijiet Sommarji, ġie ppreżentat ilment mal-Ombudsman. Fir-rakkomandazzjonijiet tiegħu, l-Ombudsman iddikjara li:

1. L-identità tal-individwu responsabbli mid-deċiżjoni dwar applikazzjoni għandha tiġi żvelata b’mod pubbliku fiż-żmien li toħroġ id-deċiżjoni;

2. Il-proċess tat-teħid tad-deċiżjonijiet għandu jsir f’forum pubbliku;

3. L-identità tal-uffiċjali involuti fit-tħejjija tar-rakkomandazzjoni, speċifikament il-Case Officer u l-Endorsing Officer, għandhom ukoll ikunu pubblikament disponibbli mingħajr dewmien.

Din il-kwistjoni ħarġet b’mod ċar meta ġiet approvata PA/02035/21, applikazzjoni li riedet tissanzjona parti mill-iżvilupp ta’ Joseph Portelli fis-Sannat li preċedentament kien ġie rrevokat mill-Qorti. B’mod allarmanti għall-aħħar, ir-rapport tal-Case Officer irrakkomanda li din l-applikazzjoni tiġi approvata, u naqas milli jsemmi l-fatt kruċjali li l-iżvilupp inkwistjoni kien ġie nnullifikat mill-Qorti u, skont il-liġi, ma kienx eliġibbli għas-sanzjonar.

Ir-rapport ġie ppubblikat mingħajr ma ssemma l-isem tal-uffiċjal li ħejjieh jew l-uffiċjal li approvah. Dan in-nuqqas ta’ trasparenza wassal għal nuqqas ta’ kontabbiltà għal deċiżjoni sfaċċatament illegali li waqqgħet għaż-żuffjett il-kelma tal-Qorti.

Wara li l-Ombudsman ippreżenta s-sejbiet tiegħu, il-PA wieġbet billi kkonfermat l-intenzjoni tagħha li tkompli għaddejja b’din il-prattika abbuża, u fost raġunijiet li tat biex tissostanzja l-argument tagħha hija qalet li “…l-ismijiet mhux qed ikunu disponibbli pubblikament għal raġunijiet leġittimi ovvji, fosthom biex l-ismijiet ma jiġux mxandra fuq Portals tal-Aħbarijiet u l-Midja Soċjali.”

Il-ħabi tal-identità tal-uffiċjali pubbliċi li qed ifasslu u japprovaw dawn ir-rapporti huwa sintomu ta’ sistema mnawra li hija mfassla biex tiffavorixxi l-iżviluppaturi u tagħtihom impunità. Is-sanzjonar illegali tal-penthouses ta’ Portelli fis-Sannat seħħ wara li l-binja kienet tlestiet waqt li kien għaddej appell. Ir-riforma mwiegħda tal-liġi tal-appelli tal-ippjanar għadha ma waslitx, u żviluppaturi oħra issa qed jimxu fuq il-passi ta’ Portelli u jippruvaw jissanzjonaw strutturi li ġew iddikjarati illegali mill-Qorti.

Is-sitwazzjoni marret għall-agħar bid-deċiżjoni li Johann Butiggieg, li huwa magħruf għall-qrubija tiegħu mal-iżviluppaturi l-kbar ta’ pajjiżna, jerġa’ lura bħala CEO tal-PA. F’dan il-kuntest, il-ħabi tal-ismijiet tal-uffiċjali pubbliċi responsabbli mit-tħejjija tar-rapporti jagħmilha iktar diffiċli li tiġi vverifikata l-integrità tal-proċessi tal-PA, inklużi kunflitti ta’ interess potenzjali.