Moviment Graffitti has warned it will take action unless the government announces immediate action for the removal of developer Joseph Portelli’s illegal swimming pools in Qala’s ODZ. It is also calling on the prime minister to keep his year-old promise to change the laws that allowed such illegal structures to be built before a court appeal was decided.
The permit for the swimming pools was revoked by the Court of Appeal on March 13 following an appeal lodged by Graffitti and Qala Local Council. "But, owing to absurd laws and the very bad decisions taken by the authorities concerned, these swimming pools have now been built," the group said.
It recalled how Joseph Portelli 'had the gall' to publicly claim that there was nothing wrong with the illegal works he carried out in Qala before even before submitting a planning application.
When the application (PA/8143/21) was eventually submitted, the PA issued the permit, even though works had been carried out illegally. "This was just one application in a project that had been salami-sliced to evade a holistic assessment and it was in clear breach of planning policies," Graffitti said.
On the same day that the permit for these swimming pools was revoked, the court also revoked other permits granted to Joseph Portelli in Sannat – the construction of which, however, had also reached completion.
The group recalled how on May 1 last year, Prime Minister Robert Abela had promised changes to the law so that development permits would not be executable until any pending appeals were decided. The promised changes have not yet seen the light of day, the group said.
"The government has only issued a very worrying public consultation document which, under the pretext of introducing these long-overdue measures, is in fact seeking to limit the right to appeal," Graffitti complained.
It said that in the case of the swimming pools in Qala’s ODZ, it was clear that the responsibility for this mess must be fully borne by the authorities who issued the permit as well as by the government which had failed to change the laws on the suspension of the execution of permits during appeals.
In a letter to the prime minister, the planning minister and the Planning Authority CEO the group said that:
1. The authorities concerned should publicly announce actions to remove the illegal swimming pools in Qala and set a maximum time frame within which the site is to be restored to its former state, at the expense of the developer.
2. The government should immediately reform the law related to planning appeals to protect the rights of appellants and make sure that developments are not built until appeals are definitively concluded.
The group said that should there not be a satisfactory response by Monday April 22, it and other communities and organisations across Malta and Gozo will launch actions to remedy this grave injustice against the environment and the Maltese and Gozitan people.