A breath of fresh air for Valletta

Over 500 air-conditioning units that stuck out like sore thumbs on buildings in Valletta have been re-sited by the owners.

Speaking at a press conference in Valletta, Environment Minister George Pullicino said that following an initiative by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, the units that were illegally mounted on the façades of buildings in the city were removed and a substantial number of others will follow suit once the applications for their re-siting are processed.

In late 2004, Mepa had had mounted a campaign aimed at ridding Valletta of such air-conditioning units. A survey carried out at the time showed there were 1,055 such units.

Mepa had offered a consultancy service for free to those who wished to find a way of screening the units and waived the fees for applications to carry out alterations to façades and to remove the air-conditioning units.

The deadline for the exemption from development permit fees which was initially set for last September was extended to the end of December.

Mepa chairman Andrew Calleja said that although some tricky situations were met, there were no cases where it was not possible to relocate the unit away from the façade.

Mepa also issued guidelines with ideas and advice on how units can be screened or otherwise kept out of sight.

Mr Pullicino said 214 units were removed from shop fronts, 205 from residential areas and 95 from other zones.

"A number of other owners have a permit to remove the unit but have not yet done so. Some have not yet applied, and unless they fall in line, Mepa will issue enforcement notices, remove the units itself and forward the bill to the owners.

"Mepa does not wish to get to this stage and I appeal to people to do what has to be done as the unit will be removed and they will have to foot the bill. We are trying to convince people to do this themselves, but crunch time will come too," he said.

Mr Pullicino said the Valletta local council and the Valletta Rehabilitation Committee have played their part in encouraging the removal of the unsightly units.