GUEST POST: How Mr and Mrs Borg are going to subsidise Sandro Chetcuti and Charles Polidano
Somebody who was involved in the Malta Environment and Planning Authority has sent in this guest post.
Despite strict austerity measures, the Malta Environment and Planning Authority is well over Eur 10 million in the red.
The government has now announced that it plans to reduce the fees payable on development applications, which are almost the MEPA’s sole source of income.
This means that the growing gap between income and expenditure which chronically cripples the MEPA will become another added burden on the taxpayer. If fees are cut down, the situation can only get worse, and certainly never better.
With the MEPA financed, effectively, by the taxpayer, what we have is a situation in which those who do not make use of the services of the MEPA will pay for those who do.
In other words, Polidano Brothers, Sandro Chetcuti and all the other construction now-no-longer-barunijiet who are lying in wait for the promised-behind-the-scenes ‘opening up’ of development will be saving money on MEPA fees, but ordinary people will be making up with their taxes for that shortfall instead.
How fair is that?
Mr and Mrs Borg, with the taxes taken out of their wages, will be subsidising those who build to sell and who are now very excited at the thought of increasing Malta’s geographical footprint, thereby creating more buildable area, through building up on the seabed (called ‘land reclamation’).
And most of those who post comments on timesofmalta.com’s comments board are gushing at what a wonderful idea this is. And about how Labour veru jhobb il-fqir.
So very sad.
29 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
And all this with the market already super saturated with residential property that is not being sold.
Straight to the point. As always.
So now we also have a situation where the CEO of MEPA will get 19K a year while the unit managers are getting 80 to 84K. We will hear more of the MEPA stories in the coming year.
Previously a disaster, now to become a national problem.
MEPA’s fees were raised to push it towards becoming self-sustaining. Reduced fees reverse that decision. The alternative to subsidies by tax payers is cost-cutting. That usually means firing people. They could start with the ones who clock in and do nothing.
The pertinent question at the moment is: Where does Muscat intend to reclaim? Any idea? I bet that any land reclamation will occur near Sliema to guarantee a good return in investment.
This measure and other changes which will lower revenue for the government will have a serious implication in years to come on the country’s finances. What one has to understand that a number of the proposed measures will not stimulate the economy but merely a cash drain.
Fair enough but everybody knows that ” permezz tal-MEPA in-Nazzjonalisti zraw mazra ma ghonqhom “.
“In other words, Polidano Brothers, Sandro Chetcuti and all the other construction now-no-longer-barunijiet who are lying in wait for the promised-behind-the-scenes ‘opening up’ of development will be saving money on MEPA fees, but ordinary people will be making up with their taxes for that shortfall instead.”
First-time buyers are not construction magnates, and they were equally hit by the exorbitant fees, as far as I know.
First-time buyers are not developers.
The perfect government for the gullible Maltese idiots!
So very sad is putting it mildly!
And we thought that there was an improvement in education!!
Forget about the fundamental issues regarding land reclamation, such as negative impact on the environment, the engineering aspects, such a resistance to storm sea waves, the practical side, such as finding a suitable offshore site on our limited coastline that can be ‘reclaimed’, the blot on the seascape that such reclamation will create and, of course, the questionable financial viability and justification for it all.
Where are the promoters of this scheme going to find the millions of tons of rock to fill up a huge part of the seabed, without creating a second environmental disaster on Malta itself?
Subsidising the MEPA out of the taxpayer’s funds is one option available to the government.
The other one is to deprive the MEPA of resources, skills and expertise, and therefore it becomes an irrelevant organisation which would only need small amounts of taxpayer subsidies. But the taxpayer and the public will still carry the cost of the harm that will be done to the environment by the unsustainable development that will be allowed to take place.
But the main concern should be the impact that any unsustainable development will have on our banks and credit institutions, and hence on our savings and on depositors in general.
Sandro Chetcuti, one of Labour’s construction business darlings, had already suggested on Super One during the electoral campaign that the banks have a lot of cash which the contractors could use at low interest rates to kick-start another construction cycle.
Wrong. This will only increase the banks’ exposure to the construction industry.
The same concerns arise about Joseph Muscat’s invitation for ideas about land reclamation.
Land reclamation for what purpose? Where will the material come from? Is there some secret mega-reconstruction project that we are not aware of which may create a lot of construction waste? Is there some contractor who will be selling construction waste to the government? Will the reclamation be used for some mega construction project that will be further financed by the banks?
The Times has just today reported how the EU Commission has warned that monitoring and supervision was required to make sure the property and banking sectors are kept in check.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130410/local/no-immediate-risk-of-property-market-going-bust-but-more-monitoring-is-required.464940
And only last December, John Cassar White, now Labour’s Chairman for the Bank of Valletta, said:
“Our banking system, as remarked by the European Commission, the IMF and also our own Central Bank, needs close monitoring. We must not rely only on standard stress tests that often fail to identify systemic weaknesses in a particular country. Our banks should increase their capital beyond what is required by international regulators like the Bank of International Settlements. The banks’ reliance on property as collateral could be a potential landmine that destroys shareholders and depositors’ value.
The EC has partly justified the inclusion of Malta in the Alert Mechanism Report due to the domestic banking system’s “high exposure to the property market which has seen very dynamic price growth followed by a relatively limited correction over the past decade, and the low level of provisions for loan impairment losses”.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20121213/business-comment/The-economic-challenges-ahead.449425
When I bought my house and was about to start doing it up, one of the neighbours came up to introduce herself. The first thing she did was ask whether I intended to take it down and build some block of flats. When I answered no, and why should I, her relief was palpable.
If Muscat intends to leave whole communities at the mercy of those whose only skill is to impose themselves with their money, make that speculation, chaos in the market will ensue.
Chetcuti and Polidano and others, cornered by the real market, intend to distort it, disabling all other demand, creating a spike for the unwanted microscopic ‘flats’ which have been sitting empty for years.
Muscat has to understand that either he underlines the rules or else he’ll render the ones who’ve subscribed to innovation and sustainability redundant, their clients’ investment wrecked.
Will it be Sandro, Polidano and Musumeci who’ll decide what building heights, degree of construction, make that destruction, will be allowed in conservation areas, or is it a given these won’t be touched?
The fact Muscat doesn’t show any commitment and personal stand on these matters may already be keeping buyers away. Why risk when your garden may end up overlooked by a myriad of balconies and drying terraces?
Rules, regulations and restrictions create markets and demand. All he’s doing is imposing a restricted type of supply.
trid tghid li b’din l-iskema ser ifotti lil fqir ghaxd iktar ma jkollux cans jixtri darhu u jkollu jhallas minn butu ghat-taxxi zejda biex jissussidjaw lil dawn il-barunijiet godda.
How Mr and Mrs Borg subsidised RCC!
[Daphne – How very unpleasant you are, Michael. Quite frankly, in his position I’d have sent everyone to hell the day I was almost murdered, and let some clever-dick who thinks anyone can do the job bust his gut instead to negotiate Malta’s entry into the European Union in the face of all those odds. Happy with your EU passport are you? Well, then. Il-vera bniedem antipatiku u waste of space. It’s not as though you have ever achieved anything with your life, so you’re not in a position to snipe at those who have.]
Considering the overall net benefits we gained cia the EU, Mr & Mr Borg did not subsidise RCC, but rather RCC helped give the job that allows them to pay taxes.
Mr &Mrs Borg will on the other hand be subsidising the additional 36 million that the government is paying its klikka.
And this excludes the wasted salaries of ex permanent secretaries still employed by the government.
Tghidx kemm ser torhos il – propjeta.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22094194
Mr Jerome Cahuzac lied and was dismissed from his ministerial post. Joseph Muscat lied and became Prime Minister.
FORGIVE THEM FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO.
Take a look at this.
http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/publications/occasional_paper/2013/pdf/ocp139_en.pdf
If they screw up, and release the financial purse strings..
Most of those who comment on timesofmalta.com like to call themselves “bloggers”. So how do you expect them to learn what the Labour Party stands for?
Ihobb imma, l-fqir mill-mohh, halli nimlewlhom mohhom bic-cucati.
One goat over into the abyss and a herd all pushing to follow .
This is what a PL guru wrote on her Facebook today:
Karen Galea Magri
7 hours ago near B’Bugia via mobile
Bhal lum xahar il-partit laburista jitla fil-gvern u ghedt talba lil Alla biex johloq infern gdid ghal dawk li holqu ingustizzji fuq il laburisti.
Her FB: http://www.facebook.com/kmagri
Malta Taghna Lkoll.
Il-Labour ihobb il-fqir. Veru tassew.
Il-politika tal-Labour dejjem kienet li jfaqqar il-poplu Malti.
Mal-Labour, m’hemmx klassijiet,kulhadd ugwali,kulhadd fqir.
Ghalhekk Malta taghna lkoll.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130410/local/mepa-procedure-changes-to-substantially-cut-caseload.464941
‘….Edward Mallia
Today, 16:29
One could not have a situation, he aid, where the government gave directions but committees acted differently.
Oh so MEPA board is just going to rubberstamp “government directions”. Coming from a PS with a week’s experience of MEPA, but with the supreme ‘navigator’ Robert Musumeci as advisor, it seems ‘developers’ can expect to see the winter of their discontent turned in glorious summer…….’
My thoughts exactly, as for the minister’s reasoning, Mepa’s caseload will be increased due the lower tarrifs, thus the books balanced. Swell, a spike in applications should kickstart the demand for ‘minor’ construction works all over the place.
‘Restoration’ works to proceed without even a tariff.
Malta taghna lkoll, fuq il-fil.
And given that any ‘further considerations’ shall be removed from officers’ remit, make that third party objections, concerns et al. we’re in for interesting times.
I recommend they just get rid of application notices, should preempt delays.
When Astrid Vella remains silent in view of the scam about to perpetrated, we’ll know, in reality, what a hypocritical mercenary she was these past four years.
I hate saying it, but how absolutely shameful, spineless and double-faced her silence is.
There’s paving the way for no EIS for the new power station.
This is how the deadlines will be met. Build today worry later.
re land reclamation
In simple terms land reclamation is dumping quarry run material or good quality building debris at sea and forming land area.
Most reclamation areas starts by dumping material at sea from existing beach line or loading material upon hopper barges and dumping material at sea forming an island close to the beach.
A good example is Malta Freeport Terminals. The container terminals within the port are all reclaimed land forming container stacking areas and quay for the berthing of the ships.
Right now government is applying dumping charges for such dumping at sea (circa 8 Euros per cu.meter). The official offshore dumping site is circa 3 kilometres perpendicular to Valletta harbour. The sea bed within the area is off the continental shelf and is circa 100m deep. This offshore dumping site has been used since the 1940s or even before.
Re this Land reclamation – We have to ask the following questions.
Will these charges still apply if we dump material at land reclamation area?
Who shall be the owner of the reclaimed area?
Which beaches shall be affected?
Which towns and villages shall be affected with the loading/transportation of such material?
Who will control the dumping works and the environmental aspects?