The European Commission has asked the Malta Environment and Planning Authority for a full brief on Dwejra in the aftermath of problems caused by a film set in the area, and is not ruling out legal action to ensure it is better protected in the future.
Dwejra was given the status of a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) under the EU’s Natura 2000 programme.
The Sunday Times learnt that a number of Maltese NGOs have informed Brussels about the state of Dwejra following Mepa’s permit to a film company to lay crushed hard stone aggregate on part of the Natura 2000 site.
A Commission spokesman confirmed that the EU executive is closely following the developments in this case and is expecting clear answers from Malta.
“We have contacted Mepa, that granted permission for the filming, and it informed us it is currently verifying whether all the conditions were respected or not and we are assessing the damage,” the spokesman said.
He said Brussels is taking the incident very seriously and is expecting more info-rmation shortly. “We expect to be informed soon how it (Mepa) assesses the situation, the possibilities to repair the damage and also on the management of the site that should have been put in place.”
Apart from Mepa’s information, which is expected to reach Brussels next week following the end of the ongoing clean-up process and the first damage assessments, the Commission is also expected to receive detailed assessments from the NGOs and other individuals.
“These sites should have management plans in place so that every minute detail is recorded and taken care of,” the sources said.
The Dwejra area was declared an SAC soon after Malta’s accession to the EU in 2004 and is currently also a candidate to become a Unesco World Heritage Site.
The protected site comprises a total area of 0.8 hectares and according to a Nature Trust report is visited by almost a quarter of all the tourists visiting Malta.
The US film company was given permission by Mepa to lay sand-like material on part of the site for filming purposes, but it failed to adhere to the conditions set in the permit, potentially causing damage to the rock and habitat formations of the area.
The film production house blamed the Gozitan contractor for the debacle.
A laborious clean-up immediately got underway and is expected to be concluded tomorrow while Mepa and independent experts assess whether the area’s ecosystem has been harmed.
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