Armier is an illegal boathouse village but this has not stopped people from registering their ID cards on their shacks, The Sunday Times of Malta has found.

A review of the electoral register shows at least 31 people registered as living in boathouses at Armier, Torri l-Abjad and Ramlet il-Qortin. One is registered as living in a lido.

The three zones form part of the illegal Armier community in Mellieħa. Some 800 boathouses have been built on public land there.

Two men are registered as living in illegal boathouses at St Thomas Bay in Marsascala. Sources close to the boathouse communities said ID card registration was an attempt by individuals to legitimise their presence by claiming they had nowhere else to live.

Read more on The Sunday Times of Malta or on the premium service where  the decades-old saga is revisited with a timeline of developments, the various plans proposed over the years to regularise the villages and maps showing the extent of the sprawl.

The situation will also be discussed on Tuesday’s edition of Times Talk.

Tuesday’s edition of Times Talk will discuss illegal boathouses in Malta, with particular reference to Armier and its environs.

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