The Mepa auditor's report into a controversial permit for a farmhouse in Baħrija remains in the chairman's office more than two weeks after it was submitted.

Mepa chairman Austin Walker yesterday confirmed he had not yet concluded his comments in response to the issues raised by the auditor in the preliminary report.

"I expect to have a final answer in the coming days. There are some legal issues raised by the auditor on which I am still waiting for legal advice," Mr Walker said.

The planning authority's auditor, Joe Falzon, had submitted the report to the chairman in the last week of June. As is customary, the auditor needed the chairman's remarks to conclude the report.

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 also asked the police to carry out their own probe.

Questions sent more than two weeks ago to the police over the matter have not yet been answered.

The construction of the farmhouse in the middle of a pristine valley was granted a permit despite the objections of case officers on 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