An internal audit by the Lands Authority has highlighted the lack of effort by its own enforcement division to reclaim an illegally occupied fort in Binġemma.

The audit report, presented to parliament in April, calls out the lack of action in ensuring the tenants are evicted, so that the fort – described as a national heritage – can be restored.

Its illegal occupiers have turned the fort into a no-go zone, ‘protecting’ it with a metal gate and aggressive-looking dogs.

The report says that the tenant, Steve Buttigieg, was given 30 days to leave the fort back in August 2021.

Since the eviction order was never opposed by Buttigieg, the report says that ownership of the fort automatically reverted back to the Lands Authority, as per the law.

Minister Silvio Schembri, who is responsible for the Lands Authority, used the fact that the fort is also occupied by an elderly woman to justify delaying the eviction. Schembri claimed Buttigieg would only be evicted once “alternative accommodation” is found for the elderly woman.

The internal audit report, however, recommends that eviction is carried without further delay.

The internal audit report recommends that eviction is carried without further delay

The Grade 1 building, a level of protection afforded only to sites of cultural heritage, was originally built in 1878 as part of the Victoria Lines. The fort overlooks the rural west of Malta in the limits of Rabat with uninterrupted vistas of the sea.

The fort was originally leased to Gaetano Buttigieg for cow-rearing on the eve of the 1981 general election. The family has resided in the fort without authorisation ever since, despite the cow-rearing lease having expired in 1997.

Back in 2009, an order was given to evict the Buttigieg family from the fort. The process apparently stalled when the family demanded to be given alternative accommodation by the government.