BirdLife asks Gonzi about amnesty on building irregularities

Conservationists BirdLife have written a letter to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi requesting further details about the proposed amnesty on building irregularities.

"BirdLife Malta considers that it is in the public interest for the Partit Nazzjonalista to explain in detail its Electoral Programme proposal on the sanctioning of building irregularities," BLM said in its letter.

"The vague language and terms of the proposal leave it open to wide interpretation. We are concerned that it could mean the sanctioning of illegal development in areas Outside the Development Zone (ODZ)."

BirdLife Malta was afraid that this proposal could be used to legitimise the illegal occupation of public land and the numerous breezeblock construction hunting and trapping hides that have sprung up all over the Maltese countryside in the last 30 years. 

"We believe that Malta needs proposals that fight illegal development not that reward it with a stamp of approval," it said.

BLM said the PN should say whether its proposal includes illegal development in ODZ areas?

"Would this PN Electoral Program proposal mean that all buildings built without planning permission could be eligible to apply for an amnesty from the enforcement of their legal removal?" BLM asked.

It went on to question whether the proposed amnesty applies to "the numerous illegal hunting and trapping hides" built without planning permission on public and private land throughout the countryside in ODZ?

"What does the PN proposal to sanction illegal developments exactly mean when saying that it will not cover those illegalities which are an 'environmental blemish'? What is an environmental blemish for the PN?"

BLM ended its letter by "reassuring" the Prime Minister that once Labour publishes its electoral programme, "their proposals will also be scrutinised in detail".