Update 3 | 64,000 square metres of land subject to enforcement action

An average area of 64,000 square metres owned by Polidano Bros is subject to enforcement notices, MEPA CEO Johann Buttigieg told MaltaToday.

Earlier this afternoon, the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA) started a co-ordinated direct action operation to remove a number of illegally built structures which "over the past weeks continued to mushroom at the Monte Kristo Estate in Hal Farrug".

"Despite routine monitoring by the enforcement directorate two days ago, the Polidano Brothers continued to develop without the necessary permits, prompting immediate action by MEPA against the breaches," MEPA said.

On their part, Polidano Bros, said the action was intended at removing concrete blocks and a boundary wall erected in fields owned by the construction company, located behind the Montekristo wine estate.

The company said the structures "had no relation to Montekristo operations".

But soon after the operation started, the civil courts upheld a request for a prohibitory injunction on MEPA, to stop a direct action on the Polidano Bros site. MEPA, with the help of the Armed Forces of Malta was meant to pull down two illegally erected structures, one of which was a four-storey tower, dubbed 'the De Redin tower'.

The courts informed the Authority that a Court hearing will take place in December 2013.

The first enforcement notices on these sites were issued in 2008. But despite the repeated warnings, the contractors went ahead with the development.

Buttigieg said that before a decision was taken to kick off the operation, MEPA officials this week visited the ODZ site three times ordering the contractors to respect the enforcement notice and stop the works.

Believing Polidano Bros may have been tipped off on today's operation, upon their arrival to the Monte Kristo Estate, the enforcement officers found the entrance blocked with nearly 20 heavy vehicles.

Access to the site was cleared by a number of Police officers who were accompanying the operation.

Prior to receiving the Court order, Mepa's enforcement officers managed to demolish a large concrete store which was soon to be roofed. The store was over 12 meters in length and 4 meters in height. 

MEPA's CEO also told MaltaToday that, according to Article 90 of the MEPA Act of 2010, the authority should not have been stopped from what it is legally allowed to do.

"We cannot understand how the court issued the warrant for a prohibitory injunction," he said. Buttigiege insisted that MEPA will now be asking the courts to order that Polidano Bros halt their construction activities on the sites in question.

He insisted that several meetings have been held with the Polidanos in order to negotiate and find solutions. But it appears that these meetings were futile. According to MEPA, the company has meanwhile started construction works on a separate area in the vicinity of the Monte Kristo Estate.

The Armed Forces and the Works Department were called in to assist MEPA in carrying out an enforcement order on construction magnate Charles Polidano's property in Safi. Armed police and the canine unit were also deployed on site.

"We had to be prepared for any eventuality and take the necessary security measures," Buttigieg said. The operation was coordinated by the MEPA CEO, Police Commissioner Peter Paul Zammit, AFM deputy commander Jeffery Curmi and Public Works director general Ray Farrugia.

In a separate statements MEPA said that it issued three enforcement notices, most recently in 2011. On 3rd November 2008, MEPA had issued an enforcement action against the Polidano Bros due to the erection of several boundary walls, land engineering works and other structures, which erections were developed without he necessarity permits. Another enforcement notice was issued on 18th February 2010 as a well and numerous walls had been constructed without the permits.

A protest by environmental NGOs is scheduled to take place on Saturday, against the over-development policies and decisions taken at MEPA level over the past months.

Polidano Bros's legal representative Jean-Paul Sammut said the company was not informed of the MEPA direct action, and that they had filed a request for a prohibitory injunction. A hearing is set for the second week of December. Sammut refused to comment on whether the direct action was a "mise-en-scene" ahead of the environmental protest to be held on Saturday.

Although not witnessed by journalists, Sammut said a bulldozer employed by MEPA to perform the direct action had knocked off a concrete structure. This has been confirmed by MEPA who said that prior to receiving court order, its officers managed to demolish a large concrete stucture which measure over 12 metres in length and four metres in height.

The direct action is undertaken in events when a forcible removal of structures erected abusively and not removed under a MEPA enforcement order, is necessary.

In the past, the AFM has assisted MEPA in direct actions that required additional security due to the gravity of the action itself.

Journalists were prevented from driving their vehicles from the Qormi roundabout (near the Express Traliers premises) leading to the Montekristo estate, and have been only allowed to walk the three-quarter mile road, which the police have closed.

The Polidano Group, which has an estimated turnover in excess of ?40 million, has a track record of illegal development, with some 55 pending enforcement notices.

Repeated illegal development took place at the group's headquarters in Hal Farrug while the Montekristo Estates has four active enforcement notices, including an illegal car park over a huge tract of land.