Transport Malta has been ordered by a court not to remove or in any way move political billboards put up by the Labour Party.

The decision was handed down by Ms Justice Anna Felice in the First Hall of the Civil Court, where the Labour Party sought an injunction against Transport Malta which wanted to remove party billboards because they were felt to be dangerous to motorists.

Ms Justice Felice said no proof was presented by Transport Malta to show that the billboards were illegal or a danger to motorists or the public. Dr Pawlu Lia and Dr Alessandro Lia had submitted for the PL that Transport Malta had started thinking about billboard safety only when the PL started putting up its own.

Dr Franco Vassallo had argued for Transport Malta that the billboards identified as a danger were those on the Regional Road, Marsa, near the Turkish cemetery, one facing Mater Dei Hospital and another on the coastroad leading to Buġibba.

The court said no reason was given for it to consider the billboards as having been put up illegally. Though the authority’s engineer maintained that the removal decision had been taken because the billboards did not satisfy relative guidelines, the court said no details were presented about their exact position and the precise reasons why the billboards did not satisfy safety guidelines.