The Malta Ranger Unit has filed a police report after heaps of equipment and litter were left next to the historic Red Tower in Mellieħa for more than a day following a glitzy wedding at the site.
The rangers said the wedding reception had left rubbish and equipment at the site for more than 24 hours in violation of the law.
In a Facebook post, the unit said it had filed a report with the police’s Environmental Protection Unit (EPU) and the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA).
A video shot by the rangers on Sunday night shows catering and lighting equipment, bins, trucks and heaps of open rubbish bags strewn about next to the Grade 1 listed building, which lies within L-Aħrax, a Natura 2000 site.
Natura 2000 is a network of protected sites across Europe identified as “core breeding and resting sites for rare and threatened species and some rare natural habitat types".
When Times of Malta visited the site on Monday morning, litter and staging remained at the site though workers were onsite working to remove them.
Speaking to Times of Malta, a spokesperson for the rangers said that not only had the wedding organisers “defaced a public space within a protected area, but also left all waste in open bags and on the ground for more than 24 hours.”
The rangers stressed there should be “no exceptions” for adherence to environmental regulations, regardless of who the offender is.
Responding to the controversy, the groom called the video uploaded by the rangers “misleading” and said the wedding had been "covered with all relative permits,” adding he and others were “committed to returning the site in the best possible condition".
On Saturday night, more than 1,500 guests attended the glitzy wedding at the heritage site in Mellieha.
But by Sunday evening, waste left over from the wedding had not been cleared from the site, with an inspection by the rangers that night finding heaps of rubbish, electronic equipment and scaffolding at the site.
The site on Monday morning. Photo: Jonathan Borg.
Photo: Jonathan Borg.
Photo: Jonathan Borg.
In a Facebook post on Monday morning, the rangers said the organisers had “surpassed the 24-hour deadline stipulated in SL. 549.40 [waste disposal regulations], to clean up after the event.”
The unit said that due to the leftover waste "being in the vicinity of a heritage site and also going into the protected nature site, the MRU has filed a report for aggravating circumstances both with the Environmental Protection Unit Police and ERA.”
On Monday, the unit said it had reported waste at the site three times to ERA; on Friday while the place was being set up, on Sunday night and on Monday morning.
“Not only did they deface a public space within a protected area, but also left all waste in open bags and on the ground for over 24 hours,” the unit said.
“As rangers, we report people who don't contain waste and authorities report individuals who don't sort their household waste. There are no exceptions for this event whoever the offender is.
Contacted for a response on Monday, the groom David Debono from db Group said the event was covered with all relative permits.
“The permits included that the place is cleared and cleaned within an established period and, in fact, this morning, the first working day after the event, our contractors were on site to carry out the clearing process,” he said.
"It is misleading that the video which was uploaded on Facebook was taken very early this morning before the work started. It is normal for such a clearing and cleaning operation to take some time, but we are committed to returning the site in the best possible condition.”