"We are here to besiege the PA like they have besieged Malta", one protestor said before calling for no more petrol stations to be built in ODZ land.

The activists did not allow cars to enter the building and only moved temporarily only to allow vehicles to leave the PA complex 

The protests comes as a fuel station in ODZ land in Burmarrad is set for approval as a result of the controversial fuel station policy - the review of which was started over a year ago but never finalised.

There have been 14 fuel stations proposed in agricultural or ODZ land under this policy, 4 of which have been approved and the remaining 10 being processed. These make up 50,000 square metres in area - five times the area of the Fosos in Floriana.

Moviment Graffitti's Andre Callus said that they had already done a lot of things, such as press conferences, email communication and other direct action, but that now it was clear that the PA is laughing at people's faces.

He said that the authorities themselves had admitted that the fuel station policy, which allows fuel stations of up to 3,000 square metres in agricultural and ODZ land, is defective, noting how ERA had told the Planning Authority to remove this clause, and yet over a year later nothing had happened.

Callus said that PA Executive Chairman Johann Buttigieg had told him last November that the release of the new policy was "imminent", something which - Callus said - Infrastructure Minister Ian Borg had repeated last month. Yet, Callus lamented, there has been no such reform published.

The PA's behaviour has been "scandalous, unacceptable, and a threat to the future of our country", Callus said.

Rachelle Deguara, also from Moviment Graffitti, said that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat's stating that he wanted Malta to adopt electric cars more only showed the "craziness" of this fuel station policy.

She said that they had three basic requests: that the fuel station policy is changed to exclude the clause on ODZ and agricultural land, as ERA has recommended; that the nee policy is published for public consultation; and that, following the consultation, it is implemented as soon as possible.

Another activist, Julian Delia, said that it was clear that the PA dragging its feet on this reform is "intentional" so that certain developers can take advantage of it.

He said that the PA's deplorable behaviour showed that they favour the interests of the few over the many.

"People are afraid to think about what Malta will look like in the next few years", Delia said.

This is not the first time that Moviment Graffitti and Kamp Emergenza Ambjent activists have protested against the building of fuel stations in ODZ land: last September, activists stopped a board hearing on a fuel station in Zejtun and were eventually forcibly removed from the hearing by the police, in a move which drew widespread condemnation including from the Prime Minister.

Activists continue to occupy the driveway, playing music and chanting that the PA are "dancing to the developer's beat" and calling for the PA to "have mercy on us".

Callus said that the activists will keep up the protest for as long as is necessary, and added that they will definitely be sleeping overnight in the tents set up on the PA's driveway.