Former Lorry Sant crony built illegal dwelling on Zonqor site for university

Michael Axisa, the director of Lay Lay Company Ltd, was on the receiving end of planning enforcement issued in 1997 against an illegal and uncompleted dwelling constructed on part of the land earmarked for the American University.

His land has been identified as forming part of the site at Zonqor, Marsascala, for the siting of the Sadeen Group's private 'American University' campus, for some 4,000 students. The majority of the land, 90%, is agricultural land owned by the government.

In an appeal against this enforcement order, Axisa had claimed that he was given a permit on 4 May 1987, just five days before the 1987 general election that removed Labour from power. As proof Axisa had presented a receipt showing that he had paid the planning fees which were due to the Planning Area Permits Board, the forerunner to the planning authority.

But the actual application for this permit was never traced. The Appeals Board concluded that the receipt provided by Axisa was not enough to prove that he had a permit. The illegal building was removed following the sentence issued by the board.

The Times of Malta is reporting that the owners of the land earmarked for the American University include people renowned during the era of controversial former public works Labour minister Lorry Sant: Michael Axisa (il-Lay Lay), Piju Camilleri, Joe Chetcuti, Norman Clews, Joe Formosa, Joe Camilleri, Paul Abela and Manuel Farrugia.

The so-called ‘Lay-Lay scandal’ had dogged Alfred Sant’s 1996-98 government, when the Housing Authority purchased a Lm1.5 million housing project from Axisa, which did not even carry the necessary permits.

Another enforcement was issued in 1997 against an illegal restaurant. The illegal development was removed after an appeal against the planning enforcement order was turned down in 2003.

Documentation presented in the appeal showed that the development dated back to 1982 and that the land was subsequently bought by Axisa. Axisa had applied to develop the restaurant in 1984 but his application was turned down a few weeks later.

Another enforcement order issued in 2004 againt the construction of a four-course franka wall and a trapping hide is still pending. Michael Axisa is listed as the contravenor.

Michael Axisa was a close associate of the notorious public works minister Lorry Sant. In 2012, the Courts ordered Lay Lay Company  to demolish 11 houses that it had illegally built on other people’s land in Attard.

It was the co-ordination unit in the office of MEPA's chief executive officer Johann Buttigieg that was responsible for the preliminary assessment that earmarked the outside-development-zite at Zonqor as "acceptable" for the development of the proposed American Univerity campus.

When asked to provide MaltaToday with a copy of the study, a MEPA spokesperson explained that the preliminary assessment study consisted of a desktop study aimed at finding a site which conformed to clear specifications. "The site has to be in the south of the Island, with a half of the required site to be in government ownership. The site cannot be in a protected area and it has to be serviced well by existing infrastructure including roads, drainage and water and electricity."

Only one other site conformed to these specifications - Fort St Leonard and the adjacent fields.

The Opposition has cried foul at the role of the CEO's office involved in finding the land for the foreign university, saying that MEPA should act as a "canvasser for Labour", owing to the fact that it falls under the responsibility of the Office of the Prime Minister.