Public consultation processes are a sham centred on "glossy documents" that fail to go beyond cosmetic considerations, ADPD - The Green Party has argued.
Speaking on Saturday, party members highlighted a public consultation process concerning a cutoff date for the importation of combustion engine vehicles to make their point.
Launched earlier this week, the green paper Towards Cleaner Vehicles on our Roads solicits the public’s views on when the country should stop importing petrol and diesel vehicles, despite the government having already commissioned two studies about the matter and repeatedly missing its own targets to establish a cutoff date.
Speaking on Saturday, ADPD chairperson Carmel Cacopardo noted that the green paper made reference to those two studies, which have not been made public.
“There cannot be proper consultation if important documents are kept under wraps. The Green Paper fails in the most essential thing: it does not give the full information needed for detailed feedback,” he said. “The consultation process is a sham.”
Cacopardo noted several other shortcomings in the Green Paper, which is just 10 pages long and thin on detail.
Among those are the fact that it does not explain whether a national fleet of electric vehicles would be powered by renewable energy sources or non-renewable ones, makes no mention of a moratorium on the development of new fuel stations and does not even acknowledge the €154 million in revenue that government stands to lose if petrol and diesel sales grind to a halt.
Nor does the Green Paper propose areas to be designated as low-emission zones, the ADPD leader said.
“Minister Aaron Farrugia should tell us whether he really wants to protect the health of residents of Fgura, Ħamrun, Floriana, Msida and Gżira, among other polluted places,” he argued.
The shortcomings in this public consultation exercise are symptomatic of broader problems with the government’s process of public consultation more generally, ADPD believes.
A broken system
Party secretary-general Ralph Cassar noted that there are currently more than 15 documents up for public consultation over a six-week period, with topics ranging from education to the government’s economic vision and low-carbon strategy.
But in many cases, information available is just skin-deep, with many lacking the studies which their recommendations are based on.
“It is insulting to expect stakeholders to study the documents and give informed views on the subject matter in a few weeks,” Cassar said.
He noted that the government appeared to have no desire to genuinely consult or commit itself to any particular policy, with its economic vision merely a “wishlist” instead of a detailed set of policies and scenarios to be analysed.
“The intention is clear: government does not want to commit itself to any policy and wants to continue with business as usual, to avoid upsetting anyone,” he said.