ODZ figures don`t lie

Abstract

Sandro Chetcuti, the president of the Malta Developers Association (MDA), and Robert Musumeci, consultant to government on planning policies as well as private practice architect with a knack for ODZ permits, are both in denial mode. They both recently downplayed the impact that the 2014 revised ODZ policies are having on the fabric of our countryside, going so far as to say that they don’t believe that such policies have translated into an actual upsurge in the number of permits granted for ODZ areas. The preposterous nature of such assertions is amplified further when one considers that statistics had been released in the media just weeks before clearly showing that the number of ODZ permits granted in 2016 was higher than ever recorded for a single year since at least 2006.