A Gozitan quarry owner was fined €100,000 for carrying out illegal excavations, the highest amount ever imposed by a Gozo court for a similar offence.
Joseph Attard, of Xagħra, was also ordered to restore the site to its original state within three months after illegally excavating a new quarry in Ta’ Għansar, on the outskirts of San Lawrenz, and illegally extending another.
Mr Attard already owned a quarry on the site which was covered by a permit. However, several years ago he excavated another quarry without permission and eventually connected the two sites.
In 1998, he applied to sanction both the new quarry and the extension even as he continued to carry out further illegal quarrying on the sites. The Malta Environment and Planning Authority eventually took him to court.
Magistrate Giovanni Grixti noted yesterday the planning authority had issued an enforcement notice on each site, the first as far back as 1998, but Mr Attard ignored them completely.
Magistrate Grixti fined him €100,000 and ordered him to restore both illegal quarries to their original state within three months against a daily fine of €60 if he fell behind.
The planning authority said later the court imposed the highest fine a Gozitan court “has ever inflicted on quarry owners who in the past have carried out works without or beyond the planning permits”.
The judgment was handed down within a few days of the coming into force of tougher environment and planning laws.
The planning authority said it had launched a new environmental permit programme to address the shortcomings of existing quarries and to help owners become fully compliant with environmental laws.
Mepa said it expected that, by the end of this year, all operational quarries would have become or would be in the process of full compliance.