Controversial roadworks running through Dingli farmland did not adequately follow procedures, the Office of the Ombudsman has concluded in a new report.

Following a complaint by PN whip Robert Cutajar, Environment Commissioner Alan Saliba looked into whether procedure was followed on works that linked narrow side roads in Dingli together through a new road, which now runs through ODZ land.

The works proved to be controversial, with environmental activists blocking the heavy machinery taken to the site by Infrastructure Malta to clear the land, much to the surprise of farmers who were still making use of it.

In a tense stand-off, Moviment Graffiti activists camped out on the ODZ site for three weeks in order to prevent works from starting, on suspicion that land was being cleared to make way for more rural development.

Activists blocked the site in a protest against Infrastructure Malta. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

In his report, Saliba concludes that Infrastructure Malta (IM) contracted works to begin five months before they had been authorised by Transport Malta and before it had submitted a commencement notice to the Environment and Resources Authority for the uprooting of trees.

The report also noted that an IM contractor had entered private land before it was expropriated, with the agency later reaching an agreement with the landowners.

“While the roads in question appear in the 1998 regulatory plan and the Planning Authority maintains that these have been planned since 1996, it appears that there was little information about when works were actually planned to start, so much so that the Transport Malta’s permit was granted five months after,” Saliba said.

“It does not appear that there have ever been any attempts to alter planned roads in this area.”

One-stop shop needed

He once again recommended the setting up of a one-stop shop, first proposed by the Commissioner in 2019, to keep track of environmental issues and keep both citizens and public entities informed on both the built and un-built environment.

“When a citizen does not see anything listed on the PA’s website, they expect that nothing is going to happen,” Saliba says.

“While the PA’s site is a good information centre, it should not only cater to permits concerning the PA but other works as well, including environmental ones, roadworks, as well as issues which impact cultural heritage.”

Such a platform would serve to reduce bureaucracy, with people being able to deal with the state directly, rather than separate entities.

'Observing the law should be the order of the day'

In his conclusions, Saliba said that observing the letter of the law on planning matters should be the order of the day.

“We don’t need recommendations for everybody to obey the rules, this should be the order of the day, particularly from government entities that should serve as an example to citizens,” he said.

“I must press on the importance of a one-stop shop for citizens to be informed and for fines imposed against government entities not to only result in an internal transaction.”

Saliba also recommended that changes to the Environmental Protection Act ought to be concluded quickly and include a suspension of permits while appeals on permits are pending.

Moviment Graffiti said the Ombudsman's findings demonstrated the the decision to protest was justified "despite Minister Ian Borg alleging that we wanted to take action against him in his hometown.”

It said the report made "liars" of Borg and Infrastructure Malta CEO Frederick Azzopardi.

Asking who would take political responsibility for what happened in Dingli, the groups added that the “scandal” of land appropriation must be investigated as well as Land Authority officials over the way the situation evolved in the three weeks of protest.