Gozo PA permits to be issued by Gozitan Commission

Gozitan developers have welcomed the establishment of a new permits commission dedicated entirely to development applications in Gozo, despite public concern about rampant development on the island.

Cited as a measure to “increase efficiency”, Gozo and Planning Minister Clint Camilleri increased the number of planning commissions from three to four, setting one exclusively for Gozo.

In a move seen as better satisfying the needs of Gozitan developers and contractors, Camilleri handpicked three members closely connected to his ministry to facilitate the process of dishing out permits on the once sleepy island.

The new permits commission will be headed by Elizabeth Ellul, a controversial figure who was removed from her role at the Planning Authority in 2020 after a series of dubious permits were issued in ODZ areas, particularly connected to Gozitan developer Joseph Portelli.

Ellul, a veteran planner and the brains behind Labour’s development policy, which saw single rooms in fields turned into ODZ villas across the country, joins her husband, Perit Andrew Ellul, who was put on the main planning board by Minister Camilleri last year.

Although Maltese, Elizabeth Ellul spends her weekends in an apartment she owns with her husband, which she bought from Portelli several years ago.

The other two members of the new Gozo Commission are Gozitans.

Architect Cornelia Tabone, who closely collaborated with the Gozo Minister during his time as a practising architect, will now serve full-time as a member of the Gozo Planning Commission. Her partner in her private architectural office is her uncle, Carmelo Borg, a former Gozitan Labour MP. Tabone will no longer be allowed to work in her private practice.

Recently, Cornelia Tabone was mentioned in a Court sitting during a criminal case against a former FTS official accused of corruption related to public projects.

According to the FTS former CEO Philip Rizzo, Tabone was the architect who had approved falsified invoices. Tabone was never charged with any wrongdoing.

The other member of the new Gozitan permits commission appointed by the Gozo Minister is Pierre Hili from Sannat.  As a civil servant, Hili also chairs the Strategic Environmental Assessment Focal Point at the Environment Ministry.

Since Clint Camilleri took over the Planning Authority, he has appointed many of his close associates to various boards related to the issue of development permits.

Among these is architect Godwin Agius, who was given a €700,000 direct order by the Gozo Ministry to rebuild a main road in Nadur. Agius, who has his private office at a property belonging to Minister Camilleri’s mother, was appointed to the Executive Council, the most important decision-making board of the Planning Authority.