Vince Cassar, the new chairman of the MEPA board
Vince Cassar
Vince Cassar has been brought out of five years of retirement from the civil service to become the new MEPA chairman. Mr Cassar was last in the news back in August, when as president of the Chamber of Architects he oddly wrote to the Labour leader to express his condolences on the death of Dom Mintoff.
And he didn’t keep it brief and technically formal, either. The letter written and signed by Vince Cassar said:
“In these days of national mourning, the Chamber of Architects expresses its grief for the death of former Prime Minister Dom Mintoff, who not only was a great politician but a also a member of the chamber and the profession.”
(…)
“Mintoff always endorsed and held in high regard the profession’s principles and was always loyal to the profession itself.”
Mr Cassar wrote that he could personally vouch for this because he worked with Dom Mintoff on several projects between 1973 and 1984, when Mintoff was prime minister.
Why Mintoff, as prime minister, would have been working on projects that involved architects in the civil service is beyond me, though having lived through those days I should perhaps know better.
Fresh, young, new, progressive, liberal and meritocratic: so the man who worked with Prime Minister Mintoff “on projects” in 1973 is now, exactly four decades later, made chairman of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority by Joseph Muscat.
20 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
re. emigrating, if you’re worried about the job situation in the EU, look southwards to Australia. The economy is doing splendidly, the job market is buoyant, and the country is looking for suitably qualified professionals in all fields.
Ans s.o.d. to Malta. Who on earth can take this crap?
No need, Baxxter, translate your CV into French, let me make a few inquiries in Switzerland. I quit one multinational there at your age, was re-employed by another in three months.
Your much smarter than me, should be no problem.
Agree, young people should look ‘down under’. Also Canada, a young exhuberant, professional, happy place.
I, however, won’t bail out. Got grand kids to protect.
The rock, tough as it is, is about to self-destruct. So sad.
Well, gee, thanks. I’ll send you a copy.
As long as he doesn’t have any business interests and is qualified, I can’t find any objections about Vince Cassar as Mepa chairman.
If he ‘worked’ with Mintoff for several years on various projects than we can safely say that he passed his baptism of fire with flying colours.
He’s far better than some Michael Falzon.
Cacopardo would have fitted perfectly on the Mepa Board.
I bet that Cassar is saying ‘If my brother did it, so can I’.
Mintoff was, in fact, very much hands-on in government civil works projects.
Xandir Malta TV news had featured Mintoff on site lecturing Perit Eric Mamo how to execute the Msida flood relief project, solemnly described in L-Orizzont on the morrow as “Venezia Zghira”.
On the day after the project was completed, a seasonal rise in the sea level in Msida creek flooded the road way right up to Rue D’Argens junction, rendering the newspaper claim true.
Said Joseph to all and sundry: “Lick my arse and ye shall be rewarded, at the cost of your nation`s coffers”.
Like
I wonder what Robert Musumeci thinks about this appointment.
In another news item I heard that the local plan is to be revised. Wonder why and who (developers) will be pleased to hear about this.
And now that the environmental NGOs have their representative on the MEPA board (and AD is practically dead), how are they going to criticise the MEPA decisions and the government’s environmental blunders?
The PN government had already asked environmental NGOs to name their representative on the MEPA Board. It was Vince Attard of Nature Trust who eventually resigned after taking certain controversial decisions (including the sanctioning of illegal boathouses in Gozo).
A builder who did some work for me once told me that Mintoff was a terrible architect. So much so that whenever he knew that Mintoff was the architect of a building he would take care not to walk on the roof as it would most likely cave in.
One of Mintoff’s most famous disasters during the short time he spent practising his profession was the old church on Xemxija hill – the one with the failing foundations which has since been demolished and rebuilt.
It was affectionately called il-bizla.
Minghalija kienu jghidula it-tadama.
http://www.maltarightnow.com/?module=news&at=Aktar+stqarrijiet+g%26%23295%3Bal+%26%23295%3Batra+ta%27%27+Joseph+Muscat+b%26%23295%3Bala+Prim+Ministru&t=a&aid=99845541&cid=19
.. Even that was odd. CofA were among the first to congratulate the new government. Such press releases were very rare during the previous administration.
Reading about this appointment, one wonders whether there is any coincidence between the fact that Michael Falzon, who was the minister responsible for setting up the Planning Authority (the original name prior to MEPA), had appointed Vince Cassar’s brother Godwin Cassar as its first chairman and the fact that Michael Falzon himself is the chairman of the developers association.
This might be a mere coincidence, but I have a strong feeling that Michael Falzon had a big say in this appointment. Everyone knows that Michael Falzon’s associate in the Malta Developers Association, Sandro Chetcuti, is eagerly waiting to start bulldozing Malta with his own building developments and wanted to be represented on the board of MEPA.
Vince Cassar’s brother had a good reputation at the planning authority and was known to be a decent man. Let us follow the current trend and be positive and hope that the new chairman follows in his brother’s steps.
Regarding the appointment of Alex Vella (Ramblers Association), one might ask who will be pulling his strings behind the scene. During the past few years, FAA and Ramblers worked in tandem and most often issued joint statements.
Just for the record, Godwin Cassar was never chairman. He was a director of the MEPA.
Later on when directors and assistant directors at the MEPA were sprouting faster than you could say Ave Maria, he was given the role of Director-General.
The Chamber of Architects never issues press releases. The press release praising Mintoff upon his death was unusual. It was issued months before the elections.
Did the committee of the Chamber discuss the press release? Did it agree to issue a politically motivated press release? That is improbable because most architects know the harm done by Mintoff and his regime to the profession and to individual architects.
Vince Cassar issued the press release to attract Joe Muscat’s attention to him in the hope that he will be given an appointment upon Labour’s victory. Architects trusted Vince Cassar to work in the interest of the profession. The press release was for his interest and not for the interst of the profession.
His brother, Godwin Cassar, was the Director General for MEPA. Isn’t there the need for new blood to be pumped into the system?
For crying out loud, for the moment Planning and Environment are grouped together and it would be a grave mistake if the planning section (with a greater emphasis on building development) is given greater emphasis over the environment section.
I cannot honestly say that the previous chairman was the ideal one however he managed to maintain a good balance in his policy decisions.