NGOs request PM's intervention to stop Bahrija valley development
The Ramblers’ Association of Malta, Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar and Nature Trust Malta have called for urgent direct intervention of the Prime Minister, as the minister responsible for the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, to stop the "flagrant...
The Ramblers’ Association of Malta, Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar and Nature Trust Malta have called for urgent direct intervention of the Prime Minister, as the minister responsible for the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, to stop the "flagrant disregard" of the Structure Plan and its policies by unaccountable Mepa boards.
The three NGOs unreservedly condemned the MEPA decision to grant building permission for a rustic house directly on the valley floor of Wied tal-Bahrija.
The Sunday Times reported last Sunday that PN president Victor Scerri was building a farmhouse in the area having obtained a permitbefore the government's plans to restrict development in the countryside came into effect.
The NGOs said MEPA's website cited the valley as a Special Area of Conservation for its ecological and scientific importance under the Habitats Directive. It clarified that the “Bahrija valley system supported typical watercourse vegetation and several rare and endangered species as well as endemic ones with a restricted distribution in the Maltese Islands.”
The Wied Rini and Wied il-Bahrija watercourse was classified as “one of the most important freshwater habitats in the Maltese Islands.”
The NGOs questioned the infringement of all the 16 policies in the Structure Plan with respect to areas of rural conservation, scenic, agricultural and ecological value as well as valleys that were violated in the granting of this permit.
“The Structure Plan adopts a blanket prohibition of development in rural areas, except for legitimate uses... what legitimate uses criteria drove the various Mepa boards from overturning every time all recommendations for refusal by the technical officers?"
The NGOs said they could not understand how the permit allowed for construction on the valley floor, two meters away from the watercourse. The construction would ruin the scenic value of the pristine valley and the negative impact would be aggravated by the infrastructural works required by the development as the site was only served by a concrete country road.
"Only the Prime Minister’s intervention can save the Bahrija valley for posterity," the NGOs said.