The Birżebbuġa local council is requesting the revocation of a planning authority permit allowing the Malta Freeport to carry out ship repairs at its facility.

Addressing a news conference outside the Mepa offices, Birżebbuġa mayor Joseph Farrugia yesterday announced that they had filed a request in front of the appeals tribunal for the revocation of the environmental permit issued on April 3. He said that using the Freeport as a shipyard was unacceptable due to the negative impacts on the nearby community.

Architect Carmel Cacopardo, who is representing the council in his professional capacity and not as Alternattiva Demokratika deputy chairman, argued that ship repair activity might also pose a number of safety risks.

He said that this kind of activity involved hot works including the use of open flames, and so could pose hazards to the planned permanent floating gas storage facility at Delimara some 500 metres away. He said that Mepa should have addressed this concern through further studies.

Ship repair activities were not addressed by the environmental impact assessment of the Freeport as it was only licensed to serve as transhipment and warehousing facility, he said.

He also pointed out that due to the fact that this was considered as an important economic activity for the country, the appeals board would present its recommendation to the Cabinet, which would then take a final decision. In the wake of this controversial permit Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has already announced that the government would also appeal, remarking that such industrial activities should be restricted to the existing shipyards.