Court suspends development of Nadur cemetery

The Gozo courts have upheld an application filed by 12 farmers and provisionally prohibited the Archpriest of Nadur from carrying on with the development of a new cemetery in the locality.

The decree was delivered by Magistrate Anthony Ellul following an application filed by Martin Camilleri, Paul Said, Joseph Portelli, Emanuel Portelli, Joseph Camilleri, Joseph Camilleri, Michael Cassar, Emanuel Muscat, Joseph Grech, Rita Muscat, John Azzopardi and Saver Grech against Fr Saviour Muscat.

The farmers requested the court to prohibit Fr Muscat from proceeding with the proposed development of agricultural land at Ghajn Qasab, Nadur, which included the construction of a cemetery.

They submitted that there was already a cemetery in Nadur but the parish had decided to construct a new one rather than extend the existing one.

The farmers added that they irrigated their fields in the vicinity of the land on which the cemetery was to be constructed, from water that was obtained from the same land.

Without this water, the crops could not be irrigated.

They also claimed that if the land was developed into a cemetery, the chemicals from the buried bodies would infiltrate the rain water and poison all the surrounding land.

As a result, the farmers would suffer enormous damages.

In his decree, Magistrate Ellul upheld the farmers' application on a provisional basis and authorised Fr Muscat to file a reply within five days.

The court appointed architect Godwin Abela to submit a written report, by not later than August 30, on the farmers' submissions.

Mr Abela was told to investigate all the technical aspects raised by the farmers and those that might be raised by Fr Muscat.

The court authorised Mr Abela to obtain all the information he might require from the Malta Resources Authority and the Malta Environment and Planning Authority.

Lawyer Leslie Cuschieri acted for the farmers.