The environment commissioner has been asked to investigate a permit issued by the Planning Authority for the building of a pool jutting out into a site outside the development zone in Marsalforn valley.

The controversial permit was issued last week to construction tycoon Joseph Portelli, despite strong objections by environmentalists.

Prominent voices within the Labour Party have also expressed their disagreement over the project, albeit after the permit was issued.

The Planning Commission voted to approve the pool at the rear of a block of flats in Xagħra, despite it having twice been recommended for refusal.

Conservationists, neighbours, and local councillors argued that the permit could set a devastating precedent for construction in the ODZ valley.

Rule of law NGO Repubblika said it was asking the commissioner to investigate the whole process which led to the granting of the permit.

The NGO said it was asking the commissioner to make effective proposals on how the principles enshrined in the Constitution for the state to “safeguard the landscape and the historical and artistic patrimony of the nation” and  “to protect and conserve the environment and its resources” could be safeguarded and promoted.

Repubblika said the commissioner’s recommendations should also cover the right which the people had to expect the national institutions to safeguard the common good.

It observed that Portelli felt he had the government's blessing, having told Times of Malta in an interview last September that: “the day the government tells me my projects aren’t needed for the country anymore, I back out, cash my money and go do something else with my life.”