Caravan owners start moving out on deadline

Caravan owners yesterday started removing their belongings from Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq as the government's 48-hour ultimatum to clear the structures from the site expired in the morning.

The owners are not taking the matter lightly and are signing a petition calling on the authorities to provide them with an alternative site, after the Government Property Division (GPD) served over 100 of them with a notice to remove their caravans.

The GPD told caravan owners they were not entitled to remain on the land they were occupying because it was not designated as a caravan site and they did not hold the necessary permits.

The owners protested that although plans by former governments to designate the area as an official caravan/camping site never materialised they had always been under the impression that using the site was not illegal.

To prove the point, a caravan owner said an electricity sub-station, a registration room for the caravans and toilets and showers had been built by a former government.

Two government employees had also been assigned to carry out maintenance works on the shower/toilet rooms, the owners said.

The Safari Camping Club, which represents caravan owners, is meeting Parliamentary Secretary for Lands Jason Azzopardi on October 21 to discuss the matter.

Contacted yesterday, a spokesman for the Lands Department said the ultimatum will be followed by action as part of the government's policy to restore land used abusively to the public.