Perit Ruben Abela graduated as an architect and civil engineer from the University of Malta in 1992 with a specialisation in Land-use Planning and Urban Design. In 1995 he obtained a Post-Graduate Diploma in Environmental Management and an MSc in Conservation Technology in 1997.
For 14 years (1992-2006) he was employed by the Planning Authority and later MEPA, serving in managerial positions in Development Control and Enforcement Units. Since 2006 he has been working as a manager at Heritage Malta and was responsible for a number of conservation and restoration projects, the last one being the conservation and restoration of Fort St Angelo, where he was the Project Leader of this project funded through the European Regional Development Fund.
Between 1995 and 2014 he was a part-time lecturer in the Faculty of the Built Environment, of the University of Malta, lecturing in conservation studies at under-graduate and post-graduate courses.
In 2015 he was appointed by the Office of the Prime Minister and the Minister for Sustainable Development and Climate Change as a member on the steering committee of In-Nwadar National Park.
For three years (1993 – 1995), Perit Abela was a member of the Heritage Advisory Committee within the Planning Authority, giving advice on development proposed on buildings forming part of our architectural heritage. Between May 2013 and March 2016, he was a member of the Natural Heritage Advisory Committee within MEPA, giving advice on development which could have an impact on natural heritage. He has been appointed on the Valletta and Floriana; Cottonera; and Mdina Rehabilitation Committees since May 2013, and was recently appointed as an independent member on the Environment and Resources Authority Board and one of ERA’s two representatives on the Executive Council of the Planning Authority.
Between 1998 and 2002, Perit Abela was elected as president of UPAP the house-union of professional staff at MEPA. For the last thirty years, he worked in the voluntary sector in a number of organisations and was founder of the local NGO Wirt iż-Żejtun.
He is author of a number of papers, publications and articles.
