Valletta fishing community accuses PA of ignoring illegal canopy

The Porticello canopy saga in Valletta has taken a new twist after the local fishing community accused the Planning Authority of turning a blind eye to the structure, despite tribunal judgments ruling it illegal.

The Marsamxett Fishing Community Association (Għaqda Komunitarja tas-Sajd Marsamxett), together with five individuals who work, fish or own properties in the Marsamxett area, have filed a judicial protest against the Planning Authority, after it ignored a judgment declaring an illegal canopy-covered extension erected in front of the Porticello restaurant to be illegal.

The illegal canopy occupies an area almost as large as the footprint of the restaurant building itself, and was set up on the quay right in front of the historical building’s main façade, which once served as a portside police station.

The saga has caused much inconvenience to fishermen who have to walk along the quayside restaurant’s edge to reach their boathouses.

No permit or authorisation for the large canopy and underlying tables and chairs exists, the plaintiffs argue, as a planning application had been refused by the PA, following several objections. The refusal was subsequently confirmed on appeal by the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal (EPRT).

In a decision in March, the EPRT underlined the difference between placing chairs and tables on an open space while keeping the connection with the public area open; and completely enclosing the same space with a tent structure, which it found unacceptable.

In the judicial protest signed by lawyer Claire Bonello, the Association, Mark Bonavia, Paul Bonello, Corrado Rossitto, Dione Spiteri and Simon Bonello, state that they have been objecting and protesting at the extension, which they said has blocked the passage to their properties, for some time.

But despite the appeal period for the Tribunal’s decision having lapsed, the Planning Authority had still not taken steps to terminate this illegal state of fact, argued the plaintiffs in their judicial protest.

This meant that the law was not being enforced because of a shortcoming by the Authority and was causing danger and inconvenience to the plaintiffs, as well as causing “incidents and conflicts,” they said.

The Planning Authority’s inertia was undermining citizens’ rights, as it was directly responsible for the enforcement of the laws and planning policies in force, the plaintiffs argued.

The judicial protest gives the Authority 10 days from the date of notification in order to take direct action to remove the illegal setup and related obstacles and danger to the plaintiffs, who warned that they would be holding the Planning Authority responsible for damages which may be caused.

Restaurant’s troubled past

The site is covered by a previous permit issued to Anthony McKay in July 1998 which allowed the placing of 10 tables in front of an existing pizzeria. But in 2014 the Planning Authority issued a temporary permit, valid for six months, to “sanction the placing of outside tables and chairs” over larger area as well as an adjacent “tent structure.”

This application was presented by restaurant operator Darren Debono, the former Malta international footballer now implicated in the Operation Dirty Oil fuel smuggling investigation.
In 2015, Debono applied to convert the temporary tent into a permanent structure. But this application was withdrawn, only to be presented once again in 2017 by Anthony McKay’s son, Marvin.

The PA later issued an enforcement notice against the tent in 2018 and McKay’s application to sanction the tent was also refused. It was after the application was turned down that Marvin McKay presented his appeal to the EPRT, thus further delaying any enforcement action by the PA – this is because due to the appeal the PA had to suspend its enforcement action.

In his submissions on behalf of McKay, architect and lawyer Robert Musumeci argued that since permits had already been issued for chairs and tables, the enclosure was not taking away any public land. Musumeci also referred to another permit for a similar structure for a nearby restaurant.

In its 2018 decision, the PA had found the proposal to be in breach of the Grand Harbour Local Plan, which states that no development which adversely affects historical monuments can be allowed. The PA also concluded that the enclosure of the area for tables and chairs was impeding the public’s enjoyment of the quay in question.

The restaurant, which originally went by the name Scoglitti, had been blacklisted by the US government over the fuel smuggling allegations first identified in a United Nations panel of experts’ report. In September 2018 the US Treasury Department updated its sanctions list to reflect the change in the name of the restaurant, Porticello. Debono was one of four Maltese individuals and companies hit by sanctions related to fuel smuggling out of Libya.

The restaurant had been closed after Debono was arrested in Catania on charges of fuel smuggling in October 2017, but reopened in April 2018 after being renamed Porticello.