Mepa auditor's Baħrija report awaiting chairman's remarks

The Mepa auditor has completed his investigation into the granting of a controversial permit for a farmhouse in Baħrija and his preliminary report now sits in the chairman's office awaiting his remarks.

The planning authority's auditor, Joe Falzon, yesterday confirmed he had submitted the report to the chairman towards the end of last week for his comments. He said he was now waiting for him to get back before finalising it.

Attempts to contact the chairman, Austin Walker, yesterday proved futile.

Mr Falzon was drawn into the controversy when the owner of the Baħrija land, Nationalist Party president Victor Scerri, asked for an investigation after environment groups cast doubts over the permit as the land lies in open countryside outside the development zone.

A protest attended by hundreds was held on site where excavation work had already started. Dr Scerri, who denies any impropriety, has stopped the work pending the conclusion of the auditor's investigation. He has also asked the police to carry out their own probe.

The construction of the farmhouse in the middle of a pristine valley was granted a permit despite the objections of case officers in four separate occasions.

The project goes back nine years when the first application was submitted to partially demolish two rooms that stood on the site.

The planning authority had refused the application but eight years later authorised the total demolition of the rooms and the construction of a larger farmhouse on the site, which is barely two metres away from the valley's water course.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com