Government hit by daily fines for pre-1994 illegalities

In 2005, an enforcement order was issued against the parking of caravans. The structures were removed in 2010. The latest enforcement order was issued against the Commissioner of Lands with regard to the use of parking.

The Malta Environment and Planning Authority has slapped an enforcement order and imposed daily fines on the government over an illegal car park in Ghadira, Mellieha opposite the green boathouses in the bay area.

Caravans made illegal use of the site until the previous government removed them from the area, following an enforcement order issued by the MEPA.

But recently MEPA issued another enforcement order, this time against retaining walls, the deposition of concrete, the construction of a ramp and the change of use of the previously garigue land, to make way for a car park.

A spokesperson for parliamentary secretary Michael Falzon, who is responsible for both the Lands Department and MEPA, claims the works on the site are already visible in aerial photos taken in 1994 and the site has been used as a public parking site for the past decades.

In 2005, an enforcement order was issued against the parking of caravans. The structures were removed in 2010. The latest enforcement order was issued against the Commissioner of Lands with regard to the use of parking.

The ministry spokesperson revealed that the site will now be restored to its former state.

“Since in this case a daily fine has been imposed by the MEPA, the department has no option but to commission the work to a private contractor in order to restore the site to its former state at the government’s expense.”

Normally, the Government Property Department tries to establish who carried out this offence and an official letter is issued against the offender informing him to remove the illegality and giving a period of time in which the site is to be restored, at his expense.

In this case the cost involved can still be claimed from the offender once he is known, the government spokesperson told MaltaToday.

Last year a planning application was presented to develop a seven-storey hotel on the same site. The application has not yet been validated by the MEPA.

The application, presented by Anthony Curmi in December, foresees the demolition of the existing Costa del Sol restaurant and the construction of a hotel, beach bar, an underground car park and new residential units.

Curmi had presented an application to develop a 260-room four-star hotel on the same site in 1994, which was rejected in 1997 due to its impact on the landscape.