Cynthia Busuttil
Caravans forced to move out of Ġnejna
Caravan owners were made to vacate a privately-owned piece of land in Ġnejna yesterday morning.
A number of caravans occupying a private piece of land at Ġnejna Bay were moved yesterday morning after the planning authority decided to take enforcement action.
In all, 12 caravans were towed away by their owners and another by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, whose personnel were accompanied by the police.
The owners had received a call at about 6 a.m. informing them they would be slapped with a €2,333 fine if they did not immediately shift their caravans from the edge of the sandy beach. They had been going there for years. The presence of the mobile homes at the idyllic bay had long irked residents of nearby Mġarr.
Pauline Deguara, who was at her Ħamrun home when she got the call, said: "Initially, I thought something had happened to my son."
Another caravan owner, who did not want to be named, said he would have expected the owners of the land, and not the authority or the police, to ask him to move. The man said his 64-year-old father, also a caravan owner, had just been told he needed open heart surgery: "I did not know how to tell him we had to move the caravans."
The land is owned by a number of companies and individuals who had complained to Mepa about the illicit use of their land. Their lawyer, Richard Galea Debono, said the caravans were not there with the owners' blessings: "They are happy Mepa took the necessary action".
Although the owners said they had not received an enforcement notice, Mepa said that last month it had informed the landowners that action would be taken without any further notification.
Both the land and caravan owners had been served with an enforcement notice last year following what constituted an unauthorised change of use of the land into a caravan site.
Although the caravans were removed in October, they had begun to mushroom again over the past few weeks. Mepa enforcement officers will continue to keep an eye on the area. The issue was raised by Nationalist MEP candidate Alan Deidun last month. This irked Ms Deguara: "They let the election pass and came to remove us," she complained.
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D Camilleri
Jun 12th 2009, 15:13
@ Steve Muscat
wasn't talking about caravan owners!!!!! Was talking about the 'land owners' ... refer to article
John Spiteri
Jun 11th 2009, 08:00
"The man said his 64-year-old father, also a caravan owner, had just been told he needed open heart surgery: "I did not know how to tell him we had to move the caravans." "
this isn't a reason for you to stay there....what right do you have to take a piece of land which isn't yours?! all of you should be fined for how long you have taken anunauthorized land
Steve Muscat
Jun 11th 2009, 07:42
@ D camilleri - on what planet do the caravan owners have a right to be paid? for what?? they towed away their own caravans, these were not confiscated.
On the contrary, MEPA need to have the guts to take on the big boys too and wipe out all illegal structures.
Grow up and stop whining
Andrew Gatt
Jun 10th 2009, 21:03
@ Moira Heath............spot on. Couldn't agree more. The barefaced cheek of these squatters is incredible. They turn our beauty spots and beaches into slums and think they have some God-given right to remain there, on private land that belongs to someone else, or public land that belongs to the country.
First they break the laws, then whine and complain like spoilt brats when these same laws are enforced. What arrogance.
MSciberras
Jun 10th 2009, 17:21
On the other side of the bay are dozens of illegal concrete boathouse. The entire opposite side of the bay, which includes one of the most scenic walks in Malta is barred to the general public by a gate and this gate together with the boathouses in effect mean access to the coast is impossible (Even if this peninsula is private prop access to the coast must be maintained and only serves to highligh the need for a rambling/trekking rights in green areas as is common elsewhere) Eucalyptus trees were planted by trappers on this side of the bay, together with other illegal structures and all this, of course, is behind that barred gate. Same beach, same squatters - the more serious abuse needs to be tackled too. Gnejna could be one of the gems attracting winter tourism to Malta, like for instance, the area under the cliffs under the Red Tower or the beautiful counrtryside under the cliffs abutting on Paradise Bay etc. All are ignored, are blighted by the activities of trappers, hunters or squatters. For such a business minded money mad nation, I cant understand why we abuse our countryside and heritage so.
Rupert Camilleri
Jun 10th 2009, 17:14
Can MEPA be bold enough to rid our boat house campers along the Xemxija coast line? The territorial boundary walls demarcating public property, together with permanent sun shades were bulldozed around five years ago, but quickly propped up again that same summer. Today one has the pleasure of viewing underwear drying off in the sun on the beach and boats actually tied to the shore so that once the washing dries off, the owners can hop straight on their boats for a ride, violating the 5M birthing distance and denying swimmers access - nothing short of a shanty town! Would you believe that people camp in these boat houses all the year round with minimal sanitary provisions!
D Camilleri
Jun 10th 2009, 12:44
I guess this is even worse than I thought. The beach is being take away from all of us soon. These number of companies and individuals will take over...
and to all those who were happy that the caravans left: it's another bay you can say goodbye to unless you'd be willing to pay these owners, who I might add have the right t demand payment.
Moira Heath
Jun 10th 2009, 12:26
Oh come on! How pathetic can you get. "They let the election pass and came to remove us". You were trespassing on other people's property and you have the audacity to complain and blame it on an election? Why don't you obey the law in the first place and stick to your property?
The other statement shows even more the extreme arrogance of some maltese. "he would have expected the owners of the land, and not the authority or the police, to ask him to move". Right, so his reasoning must have been "let's take over the land. If the owner speaks up we move, if not we stay". And then he got offended because the police and MEPA were called in. Some people are unbelievable!
Anna Farrugia
Jun 10th 2009, 11:16
Good! About time too!
What about the Armier 'residents'?
Are they staying there?
When are they leaving?
nmifsud
Jun 10th 2009, 11:00
finally!!!!