Owners of vacant sites that are being used as dumping grounds for bulky or domestic waste will be obliged to build an eight-course wall and clean the area within three months, once the Malta Environment and Planning Authority issues an enforcement notice.
The initiative was taken by Mepa in collaboration with the Local Councils Association and the Rural Affairs and Environment Ministry.
Mepa operations manager Stephen Ferrito explained that over the last three years, Mepa had received over 200 complaints that vacant plots in urban areas were being used as dumps.
“Not only are these an eyesore, they are also a health and environmental hazard,” said Mr Ferrito. “The local councils will inform Mepa of any plots that are being used as dumps and Mepa will issue an enforcement notice in the owner’s name,” said Mr Ferrito.
Once Mepa issues the notice, the owner of the plot will have three months to build an eight-course wall around it.
“If the owner does not comply within the three-month period, the local council will inform Mepa and pay for the wall to be built, and in turn Mepa will compensate the local council for the expenses incurred,” he added.
The owner would then be charged for the cost, with interest, incurred by the local council and could be fined up to Lm50 for each metre of wall up to a total of Lm1,000.
Furthermore, said Mr Ferrito, Mepa would not issue a development permit for the site until all expenses and fines had been paid.
The eight-course boundary wall must be constructed along the official road alignment and should be made out of limestone and concrete brick material. It must be topped by a four-inch concrete capping which will secure the wall and prevent people from destroying or damaging it.
The new regulations will be enforced from 16 April, and it will be up to the local councils to request Mepa to issue an enforcement notice to the owner of sites.
Frederick Cutajar from the Local Councils Association said the walls would prevent people from using vacant plots as dumps.
Rural Affairs and Environment Minister George Pullicino said this step was sorely needed and should be seen in the light of what the government was doing for the environment.
“There will be a total of five civic amenity sites in Malta and Gozo – a civic amenity site in Mriehel is to be opened in the near future,” said Mr Pullicino.
It was estimated that around 65 cars go daily to the civic amenity site available at present and 75 per cent of the waste taken in the first three months since the site opened had been recycled, he added.
However, the minister pointed out that there were people who still insisted on dumping domestic and bulky waste illegally, regardless of the fact that there is a civic amenity site and the bulky refuse system, which is free.
“Anyone who is caught dumping rubbish can be fined up to Lm2,000 and this initiative should address this problem,” he said.
Mr Pullicino said it was also unfair that vacant sites were not closed off and were allowed to become an inconvenience to people living nearby.
“To further reduce the problem of dumping, we are training 20 people, who are former dockyard workers, as plainclothes inspectors to watch out for anyone dumping waste illegally,” he said.