NTM calls for more sustainable actions

Nature Trust welcomed the initiatives being taken by the Parliamentary Secretary Jason Azzopardi to claim back public land that has been taken over illegally for commercial purposes or squatters on site.

It said that together with other NGOs, it has been asking the authorities for action since public land was being taken over and access to the public was being denied by a few.

The NGO said this was a positive long awaited move by authorities and urged that once such land was taken over a sustainable way forward was planned to ensure it was not taken over again within a few months as happened in the past.

Illegal structures and closing off access paths to the public should be tackled immediately before the issue became a national problem leading political forces to defend wrong doers. Malta, it said, was currently peppered with illegal structures that by time became small villages of squatters on public land.

Public land should again be freed to be enjoyed by all and the environment should be restored to its original state, the organisation said.