The Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) is set to decide whether to grant Hili Group permission to remove hundreds of trees from the Comino nature reserve, as well as issue the go-ahead required for the commencement of construction works, the NGO Moviment Graffitti warned on Wednesday.

The decision is set to be taken on Friday.

ERA had already issued this permit in February this year (EP 1472/22). However, following our appeal before the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal (EPRT), the permit was revoked after the Tribunal found that the proper procedure had not been followed: the permit had been issued in secrecy, without any opportunity for public participation.

The decision that ERA is due to take once again on Friday is directly linked to the Planning Authority (PA) permit for Hili Group's development of 16 villas, 44 swimming pools and a 140-room hotel (PA/04777/20).

"This permit for an intensive construction project on a highly protected nature reserve, which would irreversibly damage Comino as we know it, is currently the subject of a legal challenge by several NGOs. In May, the Court upheld one of the NGOs' main arguments and referred the case back to the Tribunal for reconsideration after finding irregularities in the way it had confirmed the permit," Moviment Graffitti said.

"It would be absurd for ERA - the very authority entrusted with protecting Malta's environment - to approve the removal of hundreds of trees and authorise construction works on the basis of a PA permit that is still being legally contested and is therefore far from definitive," it added.

The NGO called on the ERA to refuse this permit and to consider it only once a final decision has been reached on the PA permit for Hili Group's proposed villas and hotel on Comino.

"Anything less would mean that ERA is irresponsibly and illogically permitting the widespread destruction of Comino before it is even certain that the underlying development has been lawfully approved. Such a decision would demonstrate that, rather than fulfilling its duty to protect the environment, ERA is choosing to facilitate the interests of powerful developers," the NGO said.