Press Release

23 June 2011

With reference to the article ‘Enforcement rules to be changed by Mepa’ in the Sunday Times of Malta, Din l-Art Helwa considers the government’s decision to allow persons who build illegal structures to obtain a temporary compliance certificate in spite of the illegality, to be a retrograde step for the environment.

Rather than solve the “endless list” of illegalities as has been proposed, Din l-Art Helwa is concerned that by relaxing the rules this move may well serve to make the list grow even longer.

The NGO notes that this follows several other recent contentious decisions, such as to increase hotel building heights including in Gozo, to reduce development application fees, to extend expired building permits, and to pursue major land reclamation projects without submitting any strategy to the public for comment.

When viewed together, these decisions send the unfortunate message that the government intends to promote development without giving sufficient attention to the environmental consequences, says the NGO.

For further information see: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130623/local/Enforcement-rules-to-be-changed-by-Mepa.474933