Marsascala bars, restaurants hit over excess street furniture

Government officials yesterday removed street furniture from in front of several Marsascala bars and restaurants which had failed to comply with their permit conditions and remove any excess furniture.

The owners' encroachment permits were revoked and their furniture confiscated. Officials from the Government Property Division (GPD) took away the furniture at the expense of the owners, a spokesman for the Parliamentary Secretariat responsible for Revenues and Lands said. Owners will now have to pay a €1,000 fine to re-apply for a fresh permit issued by the Lands Department, the Malta Tourism Authority and the Malta Environment and Planning Authority.

The enforcement action was undertaken after the owners were earlier this week served with a formal notice giving them 48 hours to take any excess furniture out of the way.

They were warned that, if they did not comply with their encroachment permits, the permits would be revoked.

The spokesman said that, in the past, establishments were given 15 days to comply but this timeframe was reduced to 48 hours when the GPD realised that the longer deadline was not having the desired effect.

The department took similar action earlier this year in Sliema, Xlendi and Marsalforn.