The owners of caravans that have been perched along Little Armier bay for over 20 years are insisting they are entitled to stay there under an agreement reached between the government and boathouses in the area.

Last week Mellieħa council served 12 caravans with notices informing them they had to leave the area which they were occupying illegally. The notices were sent on the strength of a new bylaw.

“We are ready to move but only if this applies to everyone – including the boathouses (in Armier) – and if we are given an alternative place to stay,” a caravan-owner, holding up a copy of a letter signed by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi i n February 2008.

The letter was sent to owners of boathouses and caravans that had been in Armier since before 1992, when the planning authority was set up.

The letter read: “The government has always made it clear, and is making it clear once again, that those rooms that were built before 1992 will not be demolished and that it is committed to take any legal steps to ensure that the occupants’ interests are safeguarded.”

Tarcisio Barbara, representing the boathouse and caravan community, said the government had not differentiated between boathouses and caravans since it spoke of “rooms”.

A government spokesman did not reply when asked to clarify whether the caravans fell under the government agreement with boathouse owners.

Mellieħa mayor Robert Cutajar had said he would look into the situation to find a solution and was willing to give the caravans an alternative site some 300 meters away.

However, one caravan owner said she was not satisfied with a temporary solution.

The caravans in the area had been parked there for more than 20 years and she was concerned that, if someone would try moving them, they would snap in half.

“We want to be assured that, if we are moved, someone takes responsibility for any damage suffered to our property,” she said, preferring not to be named.

The woman explained that if moved she also wanted to be provided with water and electricity facilities.

Mr Barbara explained that, following agreements with the government and the opposition over the years, caravans and boathouses were legally supplied with water and electricity.

He said that in 2005, the company Armier Development Limited was set up on the government’s request. The company submitted a development application to turn the illegal shanty town into an organised cluster of beach houses – according to the agreement with government.

However, the application cannot be determined by the planning authority before the Marfa Action Plan is approved.

Mr Barbara pointed out that the action plan had first been drafted in 1992 and the delays had cost money to the boathouse community who forked out about €93,000 in fees to come up with the development proposal and application.

A spokesman for the Malta Environment and Planning Authority said the action plan was still waiting to be approved by the Mepa board.

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