Half of heftiest administration fines issued by ERA since 2013 were handed to government entities

Half of the heftiest administration fines issued the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) since 2013 were issued to government entities.

This emerges from data tabled in parliament on Monday following a parliamentary question by environment shadow minister Rebekah Borg addressed to environment minister Miriam Dalli. 

Borg asked Dalli to provide a list of all ERA’s administration fines which were equal to, or exceeded €25,000.

The information shows that four of the eight fines listed were issued in 2018. The first fine on the list was issued to Subsea 7 Offshore Resources (UK) Ltd. According to their website, the company employs some 15,000 employees, operates in more than 30 countries and uses more than 30 vessels.

The information tabled in parliament says that one of the company’s vessels named the MV Seven Osprey was being sailed for scrappage without the necessary permits. The fine of €25,000 had since been paid.

In the same year, WasteServ was handed a €30,000 fine. The national waste management company was found to have “operated without an environmental permit,” according to the information tabled.

The next offender in 2018 was Infrastructure Malta, which paid a fine of €25,000 for cutting trees without the necessary permits.

The fourth hefty fine of the year was issued to Tal-Magħtab Construction. In 2018, the company was fined €25,000 for chopping down trees in a quarry earmarked for rehabilitation just outside of Għargħur. More than five years later, the fine is still subject to an appeal.

Tree cutting seems to be the most common offence on the list. In 2020, ERA fined a certain Thomas Azzopardi €37,500 for chopping down trees without the necessary permit. Azzopardi’s fine was also paid.

A year later, the Ministry for Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects headed by Ian Borg received two €100,000 fines which have since been paid. Both fines were issued following, “Breach of regulations regarding the protection of trees and woods.”

The final fine was issued to Road Maintenance Services Limited in 2023. A fine of €37,500 was issued following the chopping down of trees without the necessary permit. The fine was labelled as “pending.”