Seized street furniture returned to Marsaxlokk businesses

Street furniture seized by the Land Department as part of a crackdown on catering establishments late last month was returned to their owners a mere four days after they had been confiscated. In total, about 61 chairs and tables were returned to the South East Café and the Qrolla kiosk after they insisted that they had a permit to place their tables and chairs on public land outside.

Paul Miruzzi, director general of the Government Property Division (GPD), defended the move saying this "is the only case of its nature since (the) enforcement of encroachment permits has been taking place".

Hundreds of tables and chairs and umbrellas were confiscated from across the country after the department started clamping down on what it insists is the illegal take-over of public land. In the Marsaxlokk case, the outlets had been issued with a permit to have the furniture outside by the local council.

Mr Miruzzi insists that local councils do not have the authority to issue such permits but conceded that, in this case, the two entrepreneurs were bona fide as they were in possession of a genuine permit.

He said he had already informed the director of the Local Government Department, Natalino Attard, that the position of the local councils in these cases is untenable unless they first get the permission of the Land Department.

In the Marsaxlokk case, the permit was issued for temporary activities according to a 2002 legal notice. The legal notice says that applications for temporary encroachment can be issued by the local council. However, Mr Miruzzi insists that, given that these establishments are encroaching on government property, the permit of the Land Department must be sought.

Although the street furniture was returned, the owner of the South East Café, Lynette Zerafa, said she is still waiting for the approval for a permanent encroachment permit from the Land Department, which she applied for in August.

Mr Attard said he is hoping to thrash out the temporary permits issue with the Land Department in the coming weeks.