Illegally built penthouses sealed off

The Malta Environment and Planning Authority yesterday sealed off two illegally built penthouses in Clarissi Street, St Julian's.

The action followed a decision by the Planning Appeals Board which confirmed a Mepa decision that the penthouses should not be sanctioned.

The authority said it was limiting its action to sealing off the penthouses as the case was now at the Appeals Court.

The case dates back to 1998 when an enforcement notice on the penthouses, which were built instead of washrooms on the fourth floor, was issued. The developer had applied for a permit but this was refused by the authority in 2001. He appealed the decision.

The tenants of the penthouses were informed of the decision and they were given time to evacuate them.

Earlier this week the authority demolished a number of illegally built rooms in an agricultural zone known as tar-Remel, in the limits of Zebbug.

An enforcement notice had been issued by Mepa in 1999. An application to sanction the development had been refused.