MRA stops drilling of illegal borehole

A big Well Done not just to MRA and the Police but especially to the administration. People now expect that this is just the beginning. All those who steal the nation's natural resources NEED to be prosecuted. Fines should be really heavy, even imprisonment dished out. We cannot afford to see our islands run out of precious water...what will we do if that happens? The Police should be asked to go all out against those who abuse and carry out rigorous investigations with a view to stopping this illegality effectively and as quickly as possible.

If these guys are handed a €50,000 fine and the confiscation of their equipment it would surely send a huge massage to others who intend to imitate them. But I bet you what you want that the usual suspended sentence will be handed out "ghax imsieken ma kienux jafu u familja ghandom"

Presumably there is a fairly major difference between a bore hole and a well. In theory I understand that every building should have, by law, a well - I have yet to see any recent building site with one.
Environmentally every drop of water that is just left to run into the sea is a waste of a precious resource which is costing the Country a fortune to re-extract from the sea or from the dwindling water table.
Enforcing the well laws are as important as enforcing the extraction laws - "waste not, want not".

Well done MRA, now be credible and show us the confiscated hardware and expose the people / company involved..

Why is the hotline limited for illegal drilling... can't people start reporting illegal boreholes too!! IF yes, then each villa surrounded with gardens got a hole too deep.

Make an example of this thief and please apply maximum fine. In my opinion heavy fines are the only deterrent - not only in this case but in all cases.

Ever since I was a kid I knew a lot of local laws. I used to mix up with my grown up relatives and attentively listen to their discussions concerning laws and many other topics, this used to take place while game hunting and no birds will turn up, so they start discussing laws agriculture and what not. This happened many many moons ago.

One of the topics was about drilling for water where my uncle had large lands, they always argued that it was very illegal to do so, the penalty was quite high for that time, it included money as well as imprisonment. So after draining up the water table we have to enact a new law because the old one does not exists.

I remember a similar story regarding leaving any material on the road, the old law never existed so we enacted another one. I used to explain the old law to my students that all material left along a building site had to be measured and paid for occupation and to crown it all it was not supposed to stay along the road for more than three days. cheers

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One down, thousands more to go...

t pointed out that anyone who drills a borehole without an MRA permit is liable to a minimum fine of between €20,000 and €50,000 as well as the confiscation of the equipment used for drilling

As the title of the article suggests, this drilling WAS illegal. So it is assumed that he will be fined as per AND that the hardware WILL be confiscated.

Somehow, I think not.

Well done MRA.
But would it be a slap-on-the-wrist , do'nt sin again case?