Two property developers have submitted tender for the lease of a site on a Mellieħa cliff-edge to set up a bee-keeping facility - in a move residents fear is the first step towards developing the protected area.
One of the developers has a pending application to buid on the adjacent site.
Documents seen by Times of Malta show that by the closure of the tendering window on Thursday, the Lands Authority received two bids for the lease of the cliff-edge land in Triq l-Għerien.
They were from Paul and Lorraine Attard, who is the co-founder of GAP holdings and another from Dione and Tania Bartolo, a well known developer in Mellieħa.
Bartolo currently has a pending application (PA/04643/21) for a controversial semi-detached dwelling, "including pools", adjacent to the site in question.
Above the asking price
The Lands Authority tender was intended for licensed and registered beekeepers. The authority was expecting at least a €9,000 annual rent for 15 years as well as a bid bond of €27,000.
The Attards placed a bid of €16,310 while the Bartolos placed a bid of €12,150.
The lease has worried residents who wrote a legal letter to the authority in a bid to stop the process, fearing that this bee-keeping facility was the first step towards developing the site.
Protected site
Through their lawyer, Patrick Valentino, the residents told the Lands Authority’s chairman that the site was scheduled since it was protected as an archaeological site and a site of ecological importance.
They said that the number of bees required to cover the cost of the lease and other operational costs and make it feasible would be “phenomenal”.
They remarked that the land itself, located on a cliff edge, did not appear to be suitable for beekeeping, according to experts they had consulted. The site is sensitive and delicate, unsuitable for such purpose, and situated in a residential area, they added.
Legal action
The residents said they were ready to take legal action in a bid to safeguard their interests against the Lands Authority tender, adding that it was “evident” that the tender was issued to the advantage of some third party who, with the excuse of beekeeping, could eventually develop virgin, pristine land of ecological importance.
Nationalist MP Robert Cutajar on Wednesday tabled in Parliament a petition signed by over 100 residents who are all objecting to the tender to lease the land in question.
“This decision by the (Lands) Authority raises concerns, great doubts, and suspicions about the true intentions of those who dreamt of occupying that particular area in Mellieħa. We have government authorities for whom the order of the day remains to insult the intelligence of the Maltese people,” he said.
Mellieħa council minority leader and PN candidate Ivan Castillo told Times of Malta that he had raised the matter during a recent council meeting during which the council unanimously decided to object to the lease of the site in question. He said the council planned to turn the area into a belvedere from where you can see majestic views of the seaside locality.
He said there were many NGOs, such as Malta Beekeepers Association, who ought to be assisted in other areas such as Qammieh, Mizieb and Ahrax to raise bees and improve biodiversity.