I refer to Peter Richards letter entitled “Yet another ecological zone to be destroyed” (TMIS, 20 February) in which Mr Richards concludes that Mepa is about to issue a permit for the enlargement of the Portomaso project on a protected green area and create another ecological disaster like that in Dwejra.

I refer to Peter Richards letter entitled “Yet another ecological zone to be destroyed” (TMIS, 20 February) in which Mr Richards concludes that Mepa is about to issue a permit for the enlargement of the Portomaso project on a protected green area and create another ecological disaster like that in Dwejra. He calls on the Authority to practise what it preaches.

Firstly, it was precipitate of Mr Richards to insinuate that Mepa is about to grant planning permission for the enlargement of the Portomaso Project when the applicant, only recently, has been advised that an EIA update is required for this planning application to continue being processed. So, to say that Mepa is about to issue this planning permit is completely incorrect.

The author also refers to what happened following the filming at Dwejra last October as an ‘ecological disaster’. A report penned by independent and well-respected specialists, commissioned to carry out an assessment of the impacts of the filming activities at Dwejra, clearly concluded that while there is localized rock surface damage “the disturbance represented by the deposition of the extraneous sediment has not compromised the integrity of the terrestrial biological communities within the SAC”. While the Authority does not condone what happened in Dwejra, facts must not be twisted.

Over the past two years, there has been extensive evidence in Mepa’s favour to show that the Authority has put as its top priority the protection of the Maltese environment including ODZ areas. Where development is permitted, the Authority is continuously promoting the belief that this should be benchmarked against sustainable development principles. The numerous bold planning decisions taken by the Mepa Board in favour of the environment over the past months, together with the introduction of new Mepa legislation, which among other measures prohibits the submission of planning applications that seek to regularize illegal development in ODZ and protected areas carried out after May 2008, is proof that Mepa is preaching what it practises.

Peter Gingell

Communications Office

Mepa