The Malta Developers Association, a lobby formed by construction heads has been receiving grants funded by taxpayers’ money since 2015, according to this story from the Times (https://bit.ly/2HUBL3A). These grants, which haven’t been quantified by a government spokesperson responding to the journalist’s queries, also cover some MDA salaries.
To many residents across Malta and Gozo, “civil” and “developers” are polar opposites.
We often complain about developers having too much power in Malta. The MDA and its wing of estate agents effectively dictate government policy when it comes to planning and property. These two sectors, particularly the rent law sector, badly deserve to be reformed so as to guarantee a better quality of life to everyone especially in times of economic boom.
But what makes things worse is that members of the MDA itself are known to fund political parties, if not individual candidates: an aggressive financing of the political sphere which results in politicians being more loyal to their paymasters than to the electorate. The MDA (which also runs an “educational” TV programme on TVM2) is also trying to rebrand itself as an environmentally and safety conscious NGO, knowing full well that its members are grossly responsible for the overdevelopment and congestion in this country.
The term “civil society” has been under sustained attack for a number of years. Politicians have shamelessly tried to infiltrate “civil society” by forming associations, trying to infiltrate NGOs or create dubious alliances; now, it turns out the strongest lobby of the islands receives funding from government for being part of “civil society”.
That the people indirectly controlling our state are now paid for being part of civil society is a slap in the face not only to many activists and honest NGOs, but also to thousands of residents and associations who are fighting monstrous construction projects across Malta.
Civil society cannot be represented by Sandro Chetcuti’s lobby, or by people with political aspirations. It can only be represented by genuine citizens who are willing to stand up for their rights
