Fined Lm6,500 for felling protected trees

A man was yesterday fined Lm6,500 for cutting down 13 protected trees - 12 Aleppo Pines and one Tamarisk - that were over 10 years old.

Magistrate Anthony Vella heard Malta Environment and Planning Authority official Stanley Gatt explain how Mark Sapiano, 49, of Sliema had told him he had cut down the trees at Villa Margerita, in Marsaxlokk.

Joe Aquilina, from the Agriculture Department, said he had not received an application for the trees to be cut down. He added that the department did not keep a record of all applications made but insisted that no application had been filed regarding the trees in question.

After evaluating the evidence, the magistrate ruled that the prosecution had successfully proven its case.

Legal Notice 12 of 2001, the magistrate noted, laid down a fine ranging from Lm200 to Lm10,000 for every tree that was more than 10 years old.