The Planning Authority has suspended all Planning Board and Planning Commission meetings as of next Monday until further notice.
Permits related to Summary Procedure applications, the Development Notification Order (DNOs) and minor amendments will still be issued, unless they require a board or commission decision.
The PA announced the decision, taken due to concerns about the spreading coronavirus, in a statement on Saturday.
Front desk services to the public, architects and civil engineers at PA offices in Floriana and Victoria will also be limited. No payments will be accepted at the front desk except for those related to services provided by the front desk. Until further notice, payments for PA bills are to be made online, at Maltapost branches or by cheques mailed to the PA.
Meetings between PA officials and architects and civil engineers or the general public will only be held by appointment.
Procedural changes
The PA has also introduced a number of procedural changes with immediate effect. These relate to the issuing of certificates associated to the Duty on Documents and Transfers Act and applications related to the Development (Removal of Danger) Order.
In the case of the issuing of certificates related to the Duty on Documents and Transfers Act (CAP. 364, L.N. 281 of 2019), all requests will now require the notary’s email address as part of the submission, together with the previous requirements. All certificates will now be sent electronically to the notary. No certificates can be collected from the PA until further notice.
With respect to applications related to the Development (Removal of Danger) Order, all authorisations for emergency remedial works to mitigate or remove existing danger, will now be sent only by electronic means to the architect. Until further notice no hard copies of these authorisations will be sent by post.
Customers are encouraged to contact the Authority via other channels of communication. One may call on 2290 0000, or send an email to customercare@pa.org.mt. To report or follow-up an enforcement issue, one may send an email to enforcement.complaints@pa.org.mt.
These measures may be updated if the situation changes and new directives are issued.