Armier boathouses association abandons eviction appeal

The association representing the owners of illegal boathouses at Armier has abandoned an appeal against a judgment declaring the constructions illegal and ordering their eviction

That court had declared that the correspondence between the government and Armier Developments Ltd was not a binding contract and had ordered the eviction of the occupants
That court had declared that the correspondence between the government and Armier Developments Ltd was not a binding contract and had ordered the eviction of the occupants

The association representing the owners of illegal boathouses at Armier has abandoned an appeal against a judgment declaring the constructions illegal and ordering their eviction.

The first hearing of the appeal was scheduled to be held today, but Professor Ian Refalo, representing the Armier Development Ltd, informed the court that the company would not be continuing the case.

Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri, judge Giannino Caruana Demajo  and judge Noel Cuschieri, presiding the Court of Appeal declared the case to have been deserted.

In June 2013, judge Anthony Ellul presiding the First Hall of the Civil Court had declared the construction of the 12 structures at Armier to be illegal.

That court had declared that the correspondence between the government and Armier Developments Ltd was not a binding contract and had ordered the eviction of the occupants.

“Every transfer of public land must be made according to law and the foreshore can never be privatised." Any transfer of public land has to be carried out in terms of law and the foreshore cannot be privatised ... Transfer of land on shores for the building of caravans can only be by title of rent for less than 10 years," judge Ellul had said in the 2013 judgment.

In a move which caused public uproar, the beach houses were later connected to the electricity grid, after being fitted with smart meters. The government insisted that this would help clamp down on illegalities.

In April 2003, the Nationalist government had proposed a temporary emphyteusis for 65 years for the boathouses against payment of Lm15,700. The agreement included the construction of a minimum of 500 units for new dwellers who did not occupy a caravan or boathouse in the area.

Enemalta had supplied water and electricity services to these constructions, with Armier Developments Ltd claiming that this had legalised the residents' right over the land. But the court replied that this fact raises a number of questions, and that a miscarriage of one public entity does not automatically legalise the illegal constructions.

The summer houses at Armier – mainly those near the Torri l-Abjad and Ramlet il-Qortin area – have been the subject of criticism for years because they were built on public land without a permit or title to the land.

The numbers of boathouses had continued to increase over the years, creating shanty towns. In 2013, a court ruled that the construction of at least 12 of the boathouses was illegal as they were built on public land and too close to the foreshore, which is expressly forbidden from being privatised, according to law.