Permits have been issued for retail outlets at Marsascala according to powers under the law given to the executive secretary of the local council, according to mayor Mario Calleja and executive secretary Joseph Caruana.

They were referring to a statement by the Nationalist Party section committee of Marsascala and local PN councillors, which accused them of taking decisions without consultation.

The mayor and secretary said excerpts of the relevant law had been published in the council magazine, with the approval of the PN councillors.

It was restaurant owners, shopowners, and their association that had asked for commercial activity along the promenade, to enable them to regain something of what they had lost because of the recycling plant, the mayor and secretary said.