The squatters occupying the protected 19th-century Fort Bingemma for decades will "eventually" be evicted, Lands Minister Silvio Schembri said, which is the same update he gave three months ago.

This national heritage site has been illegally occupied by the Buttigieg family since the 1980s, and now also features an illegally built swimming pool.

Asked for an update on this on Thursday, Schembri told The Malta Independent: "As far as I know procedures have begun and eventually the persons involved will be moved out of Bingemma."

However, this was the same update that he gave three months ago where he said that “the next step is to eventually evict the person who is occupying the land.”

An internal audit that was conducted in 2021 by the Lands Authority confirmed that the occupiers in the fortification had no legal right over the land.

It was initially leased to Gaetano Buttigieg for cow-rearing on the eve of the general election in 1981, however, the lease expired in 1997. The government continued to accept rent from the family until 2009.

The audit revealed that in 2009 an order was given to stop collecting rent and evict the Buttigieg family.

Although the Lands Authority has confirmed that the Buttigieg family are living there illegally, there is spray paint saying "Private property" around the complex.

Fort Bingemma is a 19th-century site which is part of a series of fortifications built by the British that can be found along the Victoria Lines, stretching from Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq on the east coast to Fomm ir-Riħ on the west coast.

When a journalist and a photographer from the Times of Malta visited the fort in October, they were met with a man and his three barking dogs. When questioned, he insisted that the fort was his.