Court action prevents removal of container

A container that was dumped on scheduled land in Wied Siekel, Fontana, over two years ago is still there in spite of various official reports to the police and the Malta Environment and Planning Authority.

A reader told The Times that to add insult to injury the person who owns the container has also been served with an enforcement notice for building a structure nearby which also lies in a scheduled area.

However, a Mepa spokesman said that as enforcement notices had already been issued over the structure and the container, no further action could be taken until the matter goes to court.

The spokesman explained that towards the end of September last year, Mepa's direct action team was preparing to carry out direct action against the placing of a container on a site that was subject to an enforcement action. However, the owner of the container successfully obtained an injunction from the court to stop Mepa taking direct action until the case is decided. A hearing is due on October 20.

In the meantime a new enforcement notice was issued by Mepa in relation to the structure and the owner's appeal is due.

The spokesman said an appeal was also pending over the illegal structure after the owner unsuccessfully submitted an application to sanction an unauthorised development.