The Malta Environment and Planning Authority (Mepa) has expressed concern that current legislation enables the owners of illegally developed properties to delay the removal of structures for as long as possible, giving rise to the perception that the authority is “weak with the strong”.
In a press statement to announce that a concerted direct enforcement action on illegal developments in Delimara was carried out yesterday, Mepa expressly called for the legislation to be amended in favour of the regulatory authority.
Direct enforcement action is defined as the physical demolition and/or removal of illegal structures. The exercise started at approximately 5am on Monday, and Mepa enforcement officers were assisted by police officers from the Administrative Law Enforce-ment Section.
Other illegal structures in the area, which cannot be demolished because of procedures within the parameters of the law, have been sealed to prevent their use.
This is being done through a variety of legal instruments, among which are the imposition of fines and impeding the transfer of ownership of these properties through the submission of a title transfer notice at the Public Registry.
According to Mepa, direct enforcement action is just one enforcement mechanism available to the authority.
“Mepa’s annual report 2005 quotes about a third of enforcement cases in which the owners themselves are convinced by the Authority to remove the illegality. In fact, during 2005, there were 285 illegalities which were resolved in this manner,” said Mepa. “For Mepa, it is always preferable for the owner himself to remove the illegality but, if this does not happen, then Mepa will resort to more drastic action.”
The purpose of direct action is, among others, to deter others from carrying out any illegal developments. For this reason, Mepa has every interest in taking action against all illegal developments, irrespective of the identity of the people involved.
However, current legislation provides the means to those subject to enforcement action to contest the direct action, as well as the opportunity to sanction any illegal development.
“These rights are being used by owners to delay the eventual removal of the illegality for as long as possible,” the statement said. “Mepa considers this to be unacceptable, and particularly for ODZ illegalities, would like legislation to be amended more in favour of the regulatory authority.”
Mepa also observed that the larger the illegality, the greater the incentive to those responsible to use legal means to delay the eventual removal. For this reason, more serious illegalities take longer to address, giving the impression that Mepa is being weak with the strong.
“The truth is that Mepa is bound to strictly abide by legis-lation and unless and until legislation is amended, the delaying tactics by those responsible for the illegalities cannot be circumvented,” the statement concluded.