Judicial protest against placing hunting regulator under Clint Camilleri’s wing

Birdlife Malta is seeking the court’s redress with regards to the handing over of the government’s wild birds unit to the Gozo Ministry, Chief Executive Mark Sultana told reporters yesterday.

Speaking outside Court, Sultana said that a judicial protest was filed against the Prime Minister, Ministry of the Environment, and the Minister of Gozo following a decision taken by Robert Abela to place the hunting regulator under the Gozo Ministry led by Clint Camilleri, a self-declared hunter.

He noted that while political responsibility could be passed to Camilleri, there was no legal remit for the move.

The Environment Protection Act clearly defines the “Minister”, as Minister for the Environment. The Wild Birds Regulation Unit falls under this Act, through subsidiary legislation and for this reason the Minister of this Unit, has to be that of the Environment.

The law does not allow for the delegation of functions from one Ministry to another. Sultana also pointed out Camilleri’s clear bias in the matter.

Making reference to questions made by this newsroom, Sultana said that, “We are civil society and we have the right and duty to go against what they decide, and we did. We found out it is illegal.”

Daryl Grima, President of Birdlife said that the first two decisions that the PM has taken - the topic at hand and his meeting with the Malta Development Authority - have resulted in damage to the environment.

He appealed to the Prime Minister to take back his decision immediately, and ensure the functions pertain to ERA.

Grima also noted that Gozo is a hub for hunters, noting that they were a key element to the ‘yes’ vote winning the spring hunting referendum in 2015.

He also pointed out that the Administrative Law Enforcement, a police unit responsible for hunting illegalities, has never done the rounds ing Gozo, with BirdLife fearing it will never do so, making Gozo a hunting hub.