The Ramblers Association of Malta (RAM) has called on the government to order utility companies to withdraw all services to squatters who have built their own place on public land, claiming such services were supplied illegally.

It said Mepa should also slap enforcement notices on all these structures, leading to their demolition at the expense of the "owners".

And the association called on the Church to forbid priests from conducting religious services at these dwellings, "thereby condoning their transgression of the seventh commandment".

RAM said it opposes the granting of any concessions to these squatters who now "have the effrontery to expect to be rewarded for breaking the law and stealing land from the public".

They included the Armier squatters, recently again in the news for managing to extract pre-election sanctioning promises from both major political parties.

RAM quoted former Environment Minister George Pullicino as saying in 2001 that "this site is by far the largest single area in the Maltese islands where illegal development has been carried out on a massive scale".