MEPA ‘back to its pre-reform days’ – FAA

In a statement issued yesterday afternoon, FAA has accused MEPA of “taking the public back to the bad old days of pre-reform MEPA” with this decision.

FAA was representing Marsaskala residents “in their struggle to protect their rights to retain a public garden in a former green area which was given over to speculation in the 2006 Local Plans as long as the roof “was to be improved as a public urban open space”.

The issuing of the Malta Standards Authority (MSA) requirements for public playground safety and their management had confirmed residents’ fears “that the plans due to be approved do not comply with the basic safety requirements for street-level recreational areas, let alone for a far more dangerous public garden three floors up”, FAA insisted.

The DCC Chairman dismissed the objectors’ requests to speak, claiming that they should have submitting their objections in writing, “cavalierly overlooking the fact that residents had insistently requested a health and safety risk assessment of the rooftop garden, a request which was not acted upon,” the Green NGO lamented.

MEPA’s granting this permit in spite of the lack of a fire and safety risk analysis and its non-compliance with these proposed regulations left users of this garden “at risk of life and limb since the garden, which is punctuated by 13 shafts, lacks safety-assessed fencing and grills, and lacks shade as required by the regulations,” FAA warned.

Furthermore, the Green NSO explained, the Marsascala Local Council had given “no indication of its readiness to provide the ongoing maintenance, periodic inspections cleaning, lighting and sanitary facilities necessary to ensure that this garden offers a safe and healthy environment”.

In granting this permit without first requiring a safety risk assessment, MEPA was “imperilling the lives of children playing three floors above ground”, FAA charged.

Given the number of recent accidents, and the death of a toddler in a garage shaft “just blocks away” from this site at Triq l-Irmiġġ in 2006, MEPA’s action could only be described as “a highly irresponsible attitude towards safety”, the Green NGO insisted.

This situation had been aggravated by the fact that the outline development permit for this site was issued “even though there were major outstanding planning breaches on site, including ‘extended hotel garden, tunnel without permit and modifications from approved plans’, FAA insisted

It explained how the “abusive tunnel” was not going to be corrected by this project, “therefore it is felt that the outline permit “should never have been issued”.

The Green NGO has also expressed its “serious concern” that Enforcement EC/01237/96 was not mentioned in the case officer’s report. The fact that the developer had closed off a public road had not been addressed either, FAA insisted.