Individuals in Gozo may have been forewarned about Mepa enforcement teams making the crossing from Malta according to “persistent rumours circulating over the years,” environmentalist and marine biologist Alan Deidun told this newsroom.

On Sunday, this newsroom reported that a campsite, complete with an outdoor oven and a lounge area with artificial turf has been set up on the ‘virgin land’ overlooking picturesque San Blas Bay in Gozo.

The owner of the site, Gozitan Joseph Portelli, has already been served with an enforcement notice by Mepa after this newsroom brought to light illegal work at the site back in June, and his latest transgression has proved to be one too far.

(Joseph Portelli)

A Mepa spokesman said that the police have been informed about the latest illegal developments and Mr Portelli will face daily fines.

Asked for his opinion on the numerous illegal developments at San Blas, which also include a kiosk and a number of boathouses, Dr Deidun said that they enjoy the patronage of both big parties.

“They sprung up mostly under the previous administration and no action is being taken under the present administration to tackle them, and hence are deemed untouchable,” he said.

Asked why Mepa’s enforcement track record in Gozo seems to be particularly lackadaisical, Dr Deidun put this down to a number of factors.

“It’s a widespread perception that MEPA enforcement is especially lack-lustre in Gozo. This could be due to a staffing problem - for instance, I recently reported a possible infringement to MEPA concerning the opening of a road within the valley separating Xaghra from Marsalforn and I was told that MEPA was not sure it could visit the site since its staff was fully engaged on the Mgarr ix-Xini filming scene.”

“The issue might be that MEPA and its enforcement arm are perceived by a number of Gozitans as being a Maltese imposition on their island, in an attempt to preserve Gozo in a somewhat backward 'presepju' format, by stifling any form of economic initiative on the island.”

“The imposition of daily fines by MEPA on the contravener at San Blas is also somewhat tenuous since it all depends on the nature of the fine imposed - if the fine is actually a paltry sum, then obviously there is very little deterrent, especially if the contravener is a well-known Gozitan entrepreneur with cash at his disposal.”

Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar (FAA) coordinator Astrid Vella said that some 7,000 enforcement cases have accumulated over the years in Malta and Gozo, yet Mepa has done little to tackle abuse and even openly admitting that most cases won’t be tackled.

“Of course this encourages more abuse, as do the amnesties that have been issued at regular intervals – indeed the policy regulating Out of Development Zones (ODZ) and rural developments has decreed that illegal structures built in the countryside before 1994 can now be regularised.  This is an insult to honest residents who obey the law, only to see others profiting from illegalities,” Ms Vella said.

She cites both staffing issues at Mepa’s enforcement division as well as the lack of political will to tackle the situation over the last 20 years as being the main problems.

“It is true that Mepa’s Enforcement Division has been starved of staff for years, however the fact that the Head of the Enforcement Division resigned months ago and has not been replaced has made matters worse.”

“We have followed the case of one scrap-yard on archaeological ground in the south of Malta which was reported some 17 years ago.  About six years ago the scrap yard owner lost his last court appeal and yet the site has still not been cleared.  The injustice is that at the same time, some small fry are tackled when their cases are not as damaging as the serious offenders.”

Abuse in Gozo is harder to tackles due to some Gozitan enforcement officers’ readiness to close a blind eye, she says.

“FAA had reported the scores of illegal hunting hides that dot the San Rafflu headland years ago, and in spite of photographic evidence and regular reminders, nothing was done. The San Blas case is not the first case to make the news and still be ignored, as the abusive ta’ Muxi quarry which scarred a whole coastline also comes to mind. This site was rewarded by being given the tender for the new Parliament, an illegal site supplying stone for the seat of the legislature. “

“In our dealings with MEPA, top officials have often defended such abusers in the past. A former MEPA director had stated publicly that MEPA staff used to be issued with instructions not to take action against certain abusers who enjoyed political protection. 

“The fact that many abusers still benefit from their encroaching cafes, kiosks, beach concessions, boathouses and now camping sites, immune from enforcement action, only reinforces the public perception that such political protection is still in place.”