Sacked Planning Authority official given €37,000 ‘consultancy’ by the same authority

A former senior Planning Authority official who was removed from his post in 2021 has returned to the Authority’s payroll after being awarded a €37,000 consultancy contract by the same government body.

Simon Saliba, an architect who had been acting chairman of one of the Planning Authority’s permit commissions, was dismissed from the role four years ago following concerns about his performance.

Yet government records show that in April 2025, the Authority issued Saliba a direct order worth €37,000 to provide “consultancy services related to planning and development management”.

The contract emerged in the latest list of direct orders published in the Government Gazette.

Current and former Planning Authority officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the appointment as “astounding”, given that Saliba had been removed by the same Authority only a few years earlier.

“He was dismissed in 2021 because he was not found to be performing his duties adequately,” one official said. “Now the same Authority has reappointed him as a consultant. Does this make sense?”

After his removal in 2021, Saliba challenged the decision in court, arguing that it was unlawful. The case was withdrawn in 2024 after he was appointed chairman of the Building and Construction Industry Authority (BCA) by the same government that had previously removed him from the Planning Authority.

Contacted by The Shift, Saliba said he had dropped the court case once he was given a comparable or more senior role.

“There was no longer any scope to continue,” he said. “Once I was appointed to a position similar to or better than the one I was removed from, the issue was effectively resolved.”

Responding to questions about the €37,000 contract, Saliba rejected suggestions that it was merely a consultancy role.

“This was an assignment given to me by the Planning Authority. I carried out the work and delivered,” he said. “The contract has now ended because the assignment was completed.”

During his tenure on the Planning Authority’s commission, Saliba had drawn criticism from environmental non-governmental organisations, which accused him of acting more as an advocate for large developers than as an independent decision-maker.

His removal in 2021 was ordered by the then planning minister, Aaron Farrugia, and was followed by legal action by Saliba, who alleged that the dismissal was illegal.

The latest direct orders list has also revealed the Planning Authority’s reliance on ad hoc contracts, mostly through political appointments. Despite employing hundreds of full-time staff, the Authority issued a raft of direct orders for work that officials say could be handled internally.

These contracts include administrative duties, technical assignments typically handled in-house, and even the calculation of development fees linked to planning applications.