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James Debono
Polidano Brothers have submitted an application for an outline application to “consolidate existing construction plant and including extensions and improvements to existing facilities” at Hal Farrug in Siggiewi, a site which includes a number of buildings built without the necessary permits.
The developers are seeking an outline permit for both the existing plant which covers 30,000 square metres as well as an additional 14,500 square metres.
The plant is situated on the eastern slopes of Wied Sillani on the west flank of the Malta International Airport.
The environmental impact statement submitted by the developers acknowledges that the “proposed development is located outside the temporary provisions schemes established in 1988,” and that only “parts of the development are covered by development permissions.”
The present development on the site is described one which has created a “schizophrenic landscape”.
The report states that Polidano’s operations like other developments in the area were originally covered by permits but these “eventually grew in a manner which may not be in line with current planning and environmental policy and are currently subject to enforcement action and pending development applications.” According to the authors of the EIS, the sprawling of unauthorised development in the area was “in part the outcome of the manner in which the plant expanded in the construction boom of the 1990s when contractors were compelled to grow at relatively fast rates in order to be in a position to compete for tenders for large scale projects.”
Judging by statistics quoted by the EIA, the 1990s were a golden age for Polidano Group which saw a tenfold increase in turnover from 1989 to 2003.
During these years Polidano Group’s turnover increased from Lm4 million for the three-year period between 1989 and 1991 to just under Lm40 million between 2001 and 2003. The group contributes 18 per cent of the construction industry’s total output.
The report pays tribute to Charles Polidano’s astounding entrepreneurial zeal. His empire consists of 70 different companies in which his group is directly or indirectly involved. The range of activities in which Polidano’s Group is involved ranges from stone quarrying to hotel ownership and from road building to radios, cinemas and wine making.
New development
The new development and state of the art upgrading proposed by Polidano at Hal Farrug consists of an extension to the steel fabrication plant, workshops for mechanics, a polystyrene plant, the construction of a galvanising plant, a heavy vehicle car wash, a canteen for staff, an underlying showroom and a parking area catering for 177 vehicles on the roof of the plant.
Yet the development also comes at a cost. The EIS says that the “proposed plant will be highly visible from the airport runway and terminal building.” It also states that the site is adjacent to a valley and opposite an area considered of high landscape value and 220 metres away from a special area of conservation.
The EIS also refers to the fact that a fireworks factory is situated less than 200 metres away from Polidano’s plant. However, according to the EIS, MEPA has recently approved a permit for a separation plant which is now a Polidano Group Operation.
“One would assume that before making such a decision MEPA would have consulted the Civil Protection Department regarding the wisdom of approving such an application,” says the EIS report.
The report also seeks to demonstrate that the proposed development cannot be located within committed built up areas. While acknowledging significant impacts related to visual scene, noise, vibration and air quality, “its location within and adjacent to sites already utilised for industrial activity is likely to render its impacts acceptable.” It also says that the relocation of existing activities would be “extremely difficult.”
The EIS also refers to the South Malta Local Plan which provides for the rationalisation of many industrial and commercial operations in the countryside. The word rationalisation is the current buzzword used by the government as a euphemism for allotting more space for development by revising existing schemes. Yet Polidano’s plant has not been included in the recent rationalisation exercise.
The Siggiewi Local Council has expressed its concern on Polidano’s application to sanction and extend existing development. Speaking to MaltaToday, Nationalist councillor Carol Aquilina expressed his concern that the development lies on a valley.
“Judging from past experience, we have every reason to be concerned.” Aquilina’s motion expressing the council’s concern, has received the full backing from the Siggiewi Local Council.
On Polidano’s payroll
The EIS presented by Polidano Brothers was prepared by Dr Paul Gauci’s EcoPlan. Louis F Cassar’s name once again features among the authors of the report. Cassar is a MEPA board member who sees no conflict of interest in being paid by developers to prepare ecological reports contained in their studies.
Cassar abstains from participating in MEPA board meetings which take decisions over projects in which he is engaged as an independent consultant by the developer. Cassar has already been engaged as an independent consultant by developers in at least six other cases: Ta’ Cenc, Xaghra l-Hamra, MIDI, Ulysses Lodge in Ramla Bay and for the sanctioning of a quarry in the outskirts of San Lawrenz village.
jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt |
