MEPA takes action to remove illegal billboards

55 illegal billboards were removed by MEPA over the past days, along a number of major arterial roads in Malta.

MEPA’s enforcement directorate removed over 27 illegal billboards from Aldo Moro road in Marsa, Mikiel Anton Vassalli road in St Julian's, Burmarrad Road in St Paul's Bay, the Coast Road and St Andrew's Road in Swieqi, while a further 18 illegal billboards were removed by their respective owners.

MEPA said it will continue to remove all other illegal billboards in Malta and Gozo, both those that are free standing and others that are affixed to blank walls.

Over the past days, the enforcement directorate within MEPA also closed off an enforcement case which was initiated in 2010, whereby a large agricultural site in the vicinity of the Addolorata Cemetery, limits of Paola, was illegally being used to dump large quantities of industrial shipping equipment including scrapped vessels, containers and cables.

Following recent site inspections and warnings of imminent direct action, the site owner agreed to act and comply with the enforcement orders. Under MEPA’s supervision all the illegal material was cleared up and the site was reverted to its original state, that of agricultural use.

Self-compliance by contraveners is heavily promoted by MEPA and this case is one of the successful cases that the Enforcement Directorate managed to close by persuading contraveners to self-comply rather than incur the charges and penalties of direct action by MEPA.