James
Debono

James Debono is MaltaToday's chief reporter on environment, planning and land use issues, and one of the newspaper's main political analysts. Apart from blogging regularly on politics, James Debono won the IGM national press awards' environmental reporter of the year in 2011 for his report showing how a beverage company that extracted over 51,000 of cubic metres of water every year from the national water table for free, was awarded an environmental award by the University of Malta. Debono also heads Mediatoday's survey unit, which has conducted polls on all electoral appointments since 2008, correctly predicting the outcome of all elections and the 2011 divorce referendum.

He read history and obtained his Masters' degree from the University of Malta, and in the past worked for TV production house Where's Everybody before joining MaltaToday in 2005. A co-founder of Moviment Graffitti and active in Moviment ghall-Ambjent, he served as a media officer for Alternattiva Demokratika - the Green Party. James is married and has a son. His interests include listening to music and reading.

Maltese still stand behind Ukraine
National
​Two-thirds of the Maltese believe that the European Union should continue to...
Superintendence okays Savoy hotel’s ‘contemporary’ design
Townscapes
Contemporary design will make historical part more visible, says heritage...
ERA set to object to St Albert’s ODZ application
Townscapes
​The relocation of the St Albert College from Valletta to ODZ farmland in...
Census shows that 70,000 people live alone, but who are they?
National
Gender disparities in solo living: Middle-aged Maltese-born men and elderly...
Pama proposes ODZ garden with underlying shopping mall
Townscapes
Pama gets inventive in bid to develop adjacent ODZ land by proposing a...
Planned Ħal Far racetrack to expand over more land
National
Government is allocating an additional 20,000sq.m of land for a racetrack in...
Arkadia appeals PA’s refusal of Suq tal-Belt canopies
Townscapes
Arkadia, operator of Is-Suq tal-Belt, is contesting a blanket ban on canopies...
Shopping mall added to Marsa’s Eurospin
Townscapes
Mall and fast-food drive thru proposed on former Salv Bezzina shipyard next to...
Renewables provided 20% of peak energy demand in 2022
National
Peak energy demand in Malta has increased by 42%, from 408 MegaWatts in 2013 to...
Census: more dwellings, more ACs, less wells…
National
More dwellings, more single-member households, more vacant dwellings in a good...
EuroPride: Mission accomplished? Not yet
National
Malta’s great leap forward on LGBTIQ+ rights transformed it from...
Fino’s Australia Hall development set for refusal
Townscapes
Development of three commercial blocks would encroach on 786 sq.m of land which...
Building mad: 73,454 new dwellings constructed in past decade
National
81,613 dwellings not used on a permanent basis while 51,278 dwellings are...
PA approves Portelli’s block next to Ta’ Żejta water course in Gozo
Townscapes
The site as it stands today is an unfinished building approved before the...
Birkirkara hotel would obscure muxrabija tower
Townscapes
A historical tower with a rare stone muxrabija from which Birkirkara’s...
Qormi farmland earmarked for industrial expansion
Townscapes
Over 23,000 square metres of Qormi farmland in Tal-Ħandaq has been targeted by...
Earthquake scare in 2020 traced to seismic fault 23km south of Malta
National
​An earthquake that shook southeastern Malta in September 2020 was caused by...
Abracadabra: PA’s magic wand turns 15sq.m room into 200sq.m villa
Townscapes
Room had been illegally extended after 1967 but no permits could be traced for...
One in two Maltese find it hard to access a green space
National
Respondents in a Eurobarometer survey carried out in May were asked how easy or...
Experts to call for downscaling of St Julian’s water polo pitch project
Townscapes
Land reclamation in Spinola Bay to build a lido and two swimming pools could...