mepa reform

Essay by agium029University, Bachelor'sC+, November 2014

download word file, 9 pages 0.0

How the General Public was affected by MEPA reforms?

In 2008 and again in 2013 Mepa Reform was debated, questioned, and discussed from the Nationalist and Labor governments respectively during their electoral manifest. In 2008 the Nationalist Party gave Mepa reform a high importance while in 2013 the Labor Party still declared that Mepa Reform is an important issue.

The need for amendments and reform was, to reflect and address the people's needs, the ever rising expectations along the years, and the need for sustainable growth. Besides, these reforms also served to help and protect the Authority from turning into a bureaucratic nightmare and continue to evolve for the general public in a more accountable, efficient, and sustainable manner.

Consultation dialogues with stakeholders, constituted bodies, MEPA employees; NGO's, Government entities, Chamber of Architects and others in construction Industry were held. The government in the meantime also discussed these reforms in parliament.

This led the Authority to be seen as an alien with the general public and the people in construction Industry. Public in general was getting frustrated and argued that MEPA was unreachable and took long time to process applications. People felt their needs and expectations were ignored and in some cases also injustice was done when the implications of policies in building was not fair or more easy with certain people. People also found MEPA highly bureaucratic system very annoying and tiring, and all this increased the negative talking. The harmony to safeguard the environment as an Authority and the regulation of policies for sustainable growth was endangered.

Mr. Austin Walker chairperson of Mepa in 2008 when speaking to Krista Micallef Trigona about Mepa main issues states that:

" We need to ensure that the public understand what we are doing and that both environmental protection and monitoring are...