MEPA clamps down on unknown inhabitants of San Blas ‘rooms’

A MEPA spokesperson confirmed that the rooms were not recently constructed and that the owners of the beach rooms remain unknown.

“After checking with the available records it transpires that the structures were constructed after 1967 but before 1998,” the MEPA spokesperson told MaltaToday.

This is another indication that MEPA is using the 1967 cut off date to clamp down on illegal buildings.

Recently, MEPA used the same yardstick to deny applications to sanction a number of boathouses in San Lawrenz, Gozo, despite an action plan approved before the last election which paved the way for their sanctioning.

But while the rooms in San Lawrenz are used by their owners, the rooms in San Blas are quite deteriorated.

The MEPA spokesperson also confirmed that the enforcement officers never met the owners, and could not access the rooms internally. Therefore, their use could not be confirmed.

“However, irrespective of this, all eight structures shall remain subject to enforcement procedures according to law,” the MEPA spokesperson said.

An enforcement order was also issued against the stairs leading down to the bay, and another was issued last year against a serving as a kiosk, which was serving food and was used for the hiring of deckchairs and umbrellas.