The Montekristo estate has been placed on round-the-clock police watch after its owner, Charles Polidano, known as iċ-Ċaqnu, was found to have carried on with illegalities at the site, breaching yet another agreement.
Two police officers had already been assigned to guard the area last month after more transgressions at Montekristo, once described by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority as “Malta’s largest illegally developed site”. However, officers were stationed there between 6am and 10pm, Monday to Saturday.
That was still not enough. Mepa enforcement officers, who are also routinely monitoring the area, noticed new work had been carried out on a piece of land that is not covered by a permit and which had been specifically cordoned off.
“The work must have taken place at night or on the Sunday,” Mepa CEO Johann Buttigieg told The Sunday Times of Malta.
“We immediately decided to step up the watch so there are now policemen round the clock,” he said.
The work is a continuation of a vast illegal development which has been going on for years and was halted in a spectacular action involving the army last November.
Some time before that, Mr Polidano had promised to stop the illegal works pending negotiations with Mepa on the possible sanctioning of part of the buildings erected in exchange for the voluntary demolishing of other structures, which are considered unacceptable.
The work must have taken place at night or on the Sunday
However, the contractor failed to keep his part of the deal and started building illegally again. Following that action, Mr Polidano personally wrote to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat on November 29 to “confirm that no works will be undertaken on the site in question and apologise for any inconvenience”.
Since then, however, works resumed in August and again last week.
Mr Polidano was asked for a reaction through his lawyer Jean Paul Sammut but no response was forthcoming. Defending himself last month, the construction magnate, who has a track record of environmental abuse spanning more than two decades, had complained that he was being unfairly targeted by Times of Malta.
Asked if Mepa would continue negotiations with Mr Polidano after being defied yet again, Mr Buttigieg insisted on the line he has taken for the past year or so, arguing that negotiation is the only realistic way forward.
“We are showing with facts that we will not tolerate any more illegalities and we are tightening further every time there is a breach. There are ongoing fines and the bill for the police watch will be picked up by the developer – I’m making sure about that – but with a site like this where the illegal development has taken place over so many years, I feel we should keep negotiating,” he said.
When a final agreement is reached, he pointed out, any changes would be proposed for inclusion in the local plan and they will therefore be up for public consultation.
mmicallef@timesofmalta.com