The Nationalist Party this morning accused Mepa of covering up for Equal Opportunities Minister Helena Dalli after the file referring to her controversial property in Zejtun reportedly disappeared.

At a press conference this morning, Nationalist MP Ryan Callus also called on the Ombudsman to intervene in the case.

However, in a statement this afternoon, the authority categorically denied the claims that the file disappeared from its website.

"The authority can confirm that at no point did the application disappear online."

The Opposition has been hitting out at the minister after works were allegedly carried out on a property which she owns with her husband and which is located outside a development zone. 

Ms Dalli has denied knowledge of any works and said that the property is in the process of being sold.

Mr Callus said the PN was asking the Ombudsman to investigate how the file about Mrs Dalli's property was no longer accessible on the Mepa website - like all other cases. Instead of the case history, one found  a notice saying 'No information available' he said.

This breached Mepa regulations and denied the people their right to know.

Times of Malta found later that it could access the Mepa server information, although some people reported problems.

In its statement, Mepa reassured the public that besides the digital planning application file which was available for public scrutiny, it also kept a hard copy of all plans, documentation and minutes that pertained to the file.

"The authority’s digital system has an automatic daily backup to ensure that no data is ever lost."

It called on Mr Callus, a Mepa board member, to check his queries in the appropriate forum before making such allegations.