An illegal quarry in Gozo, which has been accepting construction waste without a licence, has been ordered to stop operations until further notice.
The ‘stop order’ was issued by the Environment and Resources Authority, which has imposed a daily fine on the operators if they fail to comply.
The quarry, known as Tal-Misraħ in the outskirts of San Lawrenz, has been engaged in illegal operations for the past 20 years. But despite having been served with planning authority enforcement orders, direct action has never been taken and it continues to extract soft limestone without the required permit.
Last week, Times of Malta reported that apart from illegal quarrying, the operators, Joseph and Randu Zammit, were also using the quarry for the dumping of inert waste from the construction industry without the necessary permits from the PA and ERA.
Last week, ERA said it was monitoring the situation and that action against the operation was “imminent”.
ERA issued a verbal stop order two weeks ago
On Monday, a spokeswoman confirmed that a formal ‘Stop and Compliance’ order has now been served, meaning all works at the quarry, including the extraction of limestone and the dumping of waste, has to stop.
“ERA issued a verbal stop order two weeks ago,” the spokes-woman said. “Last Wednesday, a Stop and Compliance order was issued on site and also sent to the owner, who is now facing daily fines,” she said, underlining that this order applied to the entire quarry.
Industry sources said building contractors were now being directed to three other quarries in Gozo licensed to carry out dumping operations. The quarries, owned by private companies, are situated in San Lawrenz, Kerċem and Qala.
According to the sources, the ERA’s decision should not affect the construction industry as there is plenty of space in the other quarries where the waste could be disposed of.
The Tal-Misraħ quarry is situated on public land which was leased to third parties many years ago. During the late 1990s the operators allegedly started expanding quarrying into areas not covered by permits.
An enforcement order issued by the planning authority was ignored and the work carried on. Recently, the operators resuscitated their application to sanction the illegalities.
However, the ERA has objected to the commencement of this process, arguing that the operators had first to reverse all the illegalities they carried out over the years.
When asked why no direct action was ever taken to stop the illegalities, a spokesman for the Planning Authority said “the direct action was put on hold until the outcome of the planning application” to sanction the illegalities.