The NGO is furious that works on the watercourses seem to be carried out without the necessary permits and apparently neither with any supervision nor any regard whatsoever to the sensitive, and legally protected, nature of the site. In fact the NGO noticed works being undertaken on this very sensitive area even though the application for the permit was still being published on the newspapers to ask for relevant submissions from the public.

Salina is one of the last remaining local marshland habitats and deservedly is protected on paper by various regulations. These regulations endow it with status of a Special Area of Conservation: Candidate Site of International Importance, as an Area of Ecological Importance and as a Site of Scientific Importance and include various legal notices and protection acts.

Parts of the saltpan areas are also scheduled for their architectural value. It is so important that it was proposed to be included in the European Union’s scheme Natura 2000.

The NGO has repeatedly reported the issue to Mepa in the last month but no appropriate answers have been forthcoming. Nature Trust demands that all the necessary studies of the site including impact assessments are taken before works are carried out and Mepa officials are to monitor the site if such works are given the go-ahead.

Due to the rarity of the habitat involved Nature Trust will

be informing the European Commission at the earliest on the matter since Mepa should have taken action in line with the EU Habitats Directive.