Red light for quarry relocation

The board of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority yesterday rejected an application for a quarry to be dug at Wied Moqbol in Zurrieq, overturning the favourable recommendation submitted by its planning directorate.

The application was brought before the board for reconsideration after it was refused last June.

In spite of bank guarantees and the 50 conditions imposed on the developer, the board felt it could not defy a policy which stated that no permits for quarries are to be issued for the time being.

Developer Charles Fenech would have been given the quarry in Zurrieq to replace what was left of another quarry he owned close to Hagar Qim which was decommissioned after the megalithic temple was declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco.

The case officer was in favour of what he called the relocation of the quarry to Zurrieq in view of the same policy which had been laid down after an audit of the quarries. The quarry near Hagar Qim was one of them, therefore the policy could be interpreted as sustaining such relocation, the officer argued.

Objecting, board chairman Andrew Calleja said the argument was stretching the interpretation of the policy which states clearly that no permits for quarries will be issued as long as there is an adequate supply.