Two construction company executives were fined a total of €20,000 for illegally dumping rubble and planting 500 olive trees without permission in Gozo.

Victor Hili, 47, from Xagħra and Joseph Grima, 45, of Għajnsielem, directors of Joymar Co. Ltd and Road Construction Co. Ltd, were found guilty of causing the damage in April 2011 at Tal-Muxi, near Qala.

Testifying, Jonathan Attard, a senior planning technician at the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, said there were two enforcement notices against the companies.

The area in question consisted of garigue and rubble had been placed over the soil in another part.

Mr Hili admitted flattening material on site and planting trees.

Magistrate Neville Camilleri said while the charges of illegal dumping and altering the site without permission were proven, there was not enough to evidence to substantiate charges of illegally managing waste.

Both men were also charged with damaging a rubble wall but the enforcement notice produced as evidence was not enough to convict them, the magistrate noted.

The court also ordered the men to return the site to its original state or be fined an additional €60 a day.