The Malta Planning Authority made a profit of € 9 million in 2018 with the explosion of construction of the country leading to a massive revenue for the governing body.

According to the latest PA financial statements, it recorded a profit of € 9.2 million in 2018, an increase from the € 8.3 million recorded in 2017. The Authority had just started making a profit for the first time in the previous year, at that time- Parliamentary Secretary Chris Agius told Parliament that the PA was € 3 million in green by the time end of 2016.

The financial statements, which were tabled in parliament following a parliamentary question from Claudio Grech, also revealed that PA’s assets have risen in recent years.

By the end of 2018, PA’s total assets were € 41 million, an increase of € 11 million from the previous year. Its cash flows have also increased substantially, reaching around € 18 million in financial statements.

One reason behind the increase was a significant increase in revenue, which exceeded € 25 million in 2017, to around € 35 million in 2018.

The PA’s biggest revenue is development permit fees, particularly due to the never-ending construction boom in Malta, which peaked in 2018 and 2019. The authority has pocketed more than € 18 million for permit fees in 2018, an increase of € 8 million from the previous year.

Fines are only a fraction of PA’s total revenue, despite rampant renegade contractors, with PA earning around € 2.2 million in 2018. Worryingly, despite the increase in employment, the increase in fines from 2017 to 2018 is practically negligible.

Costs have also increased but by a much smaller margin, with salaries (€ 13 million) making up the bulk of expenditure.

The Planning Authority remains a controversial institution despite constant promises of reform. Malta has seen a boom in development in recent years to the detriment of public spaces, the environment and aesthetics while few make millions.

There is also a perception that money-hungry developers stay above the law with politicians firmly in their pocket, with questionable decisions, deaths, and all-too-common building collapses.

To help address the issues, Lovin Malta has set up Planning Webthe country’s first transparent and open platform that lets you look into the interior of Malta’s urban planning sector.

What do you think about the figures?