A developer who built an illegal tunnel from Fekruna Bay to a hotel he owns has faced no enforcement action in 20 years because the Planning Authority does not consider the matter a priority, according to a spokesman.
The PA issued an enforcement order against Joseph Fenech in 1996 for the construction of a tunnel without a permit from the Ambassador Hotel, to the Xemxija beach, which residents fear is part of a wider attempt to privatise the public bay.
But the enforcement order remains active today and the PA has not taken any further action against the developer. “The authority has an extensive list of illegal development which is pending direct action,” a spokesman told the Times of Malta when asked about the inaction.
“The main priority in this regard is to address illegal development in ODZ areas and illegalities that are creating an inconvenience to residents.”
The PA’s enforcement division currently consists of 34 officials with responsibility for monitoring across the whole country. Executive chairman Johann Buttigieg said last year the authority was increasingly focusing on self-compliance, which yielded better results.
Xemxija residents who spoke to this newspaper said they were concerned that the tunnel was part of a long-term plan to enclose the bay as a private beach for hotel guests.
Mr Fenech has also built a boundary wall which visitors must clamber over in order to access the bay. A permit for the wall issued in 1993 included a condition requiring an unlocked gateway to be inserted, which would have ensured public access to the bay, but this was never carried out.
Signs marked ‘Private Property’ have been painted on the road on another access to the bay. The developer, who has declined to comment on the illegalities, is currently appealing a decision to schedule the bay, preventing any development in the area. Environmental groups have strongly urged that the scheduling be retained.
If successful, the longstanding appeal, which dates back to March 1997, would allow him to construct two villas on plots he owns overlooking the bay.
In October 2011, Mepa was ordered to pay €15,000 as compensation after a court ruled that the scheduling of the land was in violation of Mr Fenech’s right to enjoyment of his property, but the court found no grounds to conclude that the scheduling was unlawful.