Solving the dumping problem on vacant sites in urban areas

The Local Councils Association and the Ministry for Rural Affairs and the Environment, together with MEPA, are working to reduce the inconvenience caused by badly used vacant sites within urban areas.

As from tomorrow, MEPA will be receiving directions from local councils as to which sites will be issued an enforcement notice if not adequately walled off.

For the past weeks the three partners have carried out a nationwide awareness campaign to give property owners the chance to check with their local council whether or not their vacant site is an environmental or safety hazard to the locality. There are certain criteria which need to be followed when walling off such sites:

• the eight-course boundary wall should be constructed along the official road alignment

• it should be built of limestone or concrete brick material

• a four-inch concrete capping should be placed above the top course to secure the wall

• single walls should have stone pillars constructed to support the all at two-metre interval, or as advised by the architect overseeing the works

• the site should be cleaned of any dumped material

MEPA will only issue an enforcement notice if the local council identifies a site as having negative environmental and safety impacts and render an area unsightly and potentially hazardous.

Failure to abide by this notice within three months will result in a Lm50 fine per metre of frontage subject to a maximum of Lm1,000. Together with this, the site owner will have to pay, with interest, for the works the council would have incurred for the construction of the boundary wall.

No development permits will be issued on these sites if bills are not settled.