The Planning Authority's withdrawal of an enforcement notice on illegal tables and chairs cluttering the Marsaxlokk promenade, is "very unfair" to people who follow the rules, the ombudsman said in a report published on Wednesday.
The ombudsman had harsh words for the PA, saying that while some outlets "operate by the book and pay for the relative permits", others are left to operate irregularly “without any enforcement action whatsoever”.
The case dates back to 2013 when an enforcement notice was issued over the removal of tables and chairs that were obstructing fishermen in the area.
The enforcement notice was suspended when a development notice on the site was submitted but it was revoked entirely earlier this year, with the PA saying that aerial photos from 2016 and 2018 showed that the tables and chairs had been removed.
The Ombudsman, former judge Joseph Zammit McKeon, was having none of it. “A simple site inspection would have revealed that the irregularity still persists to the present day,” he writes.
The report did not specify which restaurant, or resaturants, were involved in encroachment on the promenade.
In its reply, the PA argued that the original enforcement notice was no longer valid, “since there was a period of time when the irregularity did not persist”. The laws regulating enforcement action “are not effective enough” in cases involving removable structures like tables and chairs, it added.
The ombudsman’s report says that it deemed this reply unacceptable, referring the matter to the prime minister.
This is the second time in the space of a few days that the ombudsman slammed the PA for its inaction on illegally-placed tables and chairs.
Second rebuke in the space of a week
Last week, the Ombudsman said that the PA is “encouraging” rule breakers by ignoring its recommendation that the PA issue an enforcement notice against a catering establishment that has been occupying the Mellieħa square without a permit since opening last August.
This prompted activists to stage a protest and occupy the illegally placed tables and chairs later in the week.
Other localities have faced similar problems and residents are becoming angry with the lack of action.
In Valletta, residents staged a similar protest earlier this month, with Valletta mayor Alfred Zammit later saying that many restaurants are abusing temporary pandemic-era concessions allowing them to place tables and chairs outdoors.
The government, meanwhile, has refused to say which eateries have a permit to place tables and chairs outdoors, with Lands Minister Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi saying that it is “not authorised” to disclose this information, effectively making it impossible for the public to know which outlets are operating illegally.