Police station demolition 'violated permit condition'
Works stopped by Mepa
The Mepa board established today that works on the demolition of Valletta police station as part of the City Gate project had started before approval of the Construction Management Plan (CMP), which was a permit condition.
Mepa Chairman Austin Walker demanded an assessment into whether any damage had been caused, particularly to the nearby churches of our Lady of Victories and Sta Caterina, and said that disciplinary procedures applied equally to projects handled by the private sector and government entities.
The issue was raised as the Mepa board considered (and later approved) a permit for the demolition of an adjoining building (the BOV branch building) so that a new square can be created at the corner of South Street with Zachary street.
FAA representative Miriam Cremona and later Labour MP and Mepa board member Roderick Galdes, pointed out that the permit for the demolition of the police station, which had been issued separately, included, as a condition, the approval of the CMP. Mr Galdes spoke in detail on how the permit condition had been breached.
The Planning Directorate confirmed that the plan had not been approved. It was explained that while normally, such plans were approved by the directorate, in this case it had been decided to attach the plan to the application for the permit to demolish the adjacent BOV building, since this was the same project.
Mepa CEO Ian Stafrace acknowledged that this was a breach of permit conditions and a procedural hitch.
Mr Walker suggested that an enforcement officer should be sent to the site immediately to assess the situation and work should stop in the meantime. He said the Authority would take action if any damage had been caused.
The project is being carried out by the Valletta Regeneration Project.