Toothless PA looks on as man ignores enforcement order and continues building illegal villa at Armier

The Malta Ranger Unit condemned the Planning Authority’s (PA) “powerless” enforcement notice which allowed the illegal development of a pile of blocks into a full villa in just two weeks.

The rangers said the site was first reported just days before the election, when it consisted only of pallets and concrete blocks. However, in a Facebook post on Wednesday, they released images showing that the structure has since developed rapidly and now appears to have taken the shape of a villa.

The illegal development is being carried out by Franklin Mangion of Żurrieq, a minority shareholder in Solitaire Property Ltd, a property development company currently in dissolution. Mangion is also the sole shareholder in Admin Services Ltd, a company based in Mellieħa that provides condominium administration services.

They said this was especially concerning because the site lies adjacent to a Natura 2000 protected area and occupies public coastal land.

According to the rangers, several reports had been filed with the PA, which allegedly confronted the contravenor and informed him that he had 16 days to restore the site.

Earlier in June, the Malta Ranger Unit (MRU) accused the Planning Authority of failing to take effective enforcement action against an illegal villa built on scheduled land in Mellieħa.

The rangers said their concerns first arose on 18 January, when a truck was observed parked in an unusual position near the site. On 30 January, the PA confirmed that daily fines had begun to pile up. Under the system, fines increase progressively over time and may eventually trigger referral to the Authority's Direct Action team for demolition once a threshold of €50,000 is reached.

By April, an excavator was regardless seen on the site and enforcement officers later confirmed that a cesspit had been constructed without authorisation. Three days later, the excavated area had been covered and water tanks installed on the roof, according to photographs taken by the rangers.

“At this point, we feel helpless seeing that the system is seemingly left broken and enabling these types of scenarios, but we remain committed to documenting the timeline of illegal developments,” the Malta Ranger Unit said.

The group said it hoped the documentation would help illustrate Malta’s enforcement challenges to the European Commission in the near future.

“If it's anything our rangers have learnt these last years, it's that not giving up is feared by the ones enjoying impunity,” they said. “They seem to think that people will forget and move on. It's time to change that.”