The police have issued charges against construction magnate Charles Polidano over environmental abuse at his Ħal Farruġ headquarters.

The police said in a dry statement replying to questions by The Times that action had been taken following recommendations to this effect by the planning authority.

No more information was given about when the charges were issued, for instance.

The Malta Environment and Planning Authority had asked the police to press charges six months ago after The Times first flagged illegal development being carried out by Charles Polidano, known as Iċ-Ċaqnu, and his brother Paul, at the back of their Ħal Farruġ complex, which also houses their gas plant, Poli Gas. A massive tract of land was turned into a huge scrapyard and outdoor depot for the group’s heavy machinery after the developers dumped hundreds of tons of rubble illegally to level off the area, which is perched over a scenic valley dotted with carob trees.

The developers also started building what looks like a warehouse and had put concrete piles in place before Mepa swooped in on the place following a report by The Times.

The environment watchdog sealed the place and asked the police to take criminal action under the Development and Planning Act. However, illegal activity re-emerged a couple of days before the general election.

The developers had persuaded Mepa to remove the seals so that they could get to their equipment and then used such access to the area to continue their illegal development.

In an initial reaction on Monday, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who is directly responsible for the authority, told the press that his Government would not tolerate any form of illegal development.

Later in the day, Mepa issued a statement declaring that the illegal works had been stopped. This is practically a repetition of what happened six months ago.

Throughout the site’s 20-year history, the planning authority was unable to stop the illegal development taking place and, in the end, always gave its sanctioning.

mmicallef@timesofmalta.com

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.