A Gozitan was yesterday convicted of illegally extending a quarry, fined €100,000 and ordered to refill the excavated area.

Carmel Azzopardi, of Xagħra, had been issued with an enforcement notice in 1998 but still the work on the quarry extension carried on in an area known as Fuq il-Bniet, on the outskirts of San Lawrenz.

Mr Azzopardi then applied to have a permit issued but until yesterday it had not been granted.

Magistrate Giovanni Grixti said the court had waited for a considerable length of time for a decision to be made on whether to grant the permit but had now decided to deliver judgment.

Mr Azzopardi had denied responsibility for the administration of the quarry, arguing that his wife was in charge of handling all the paper work.

He insisted he had obeyed the Malta Environment Planning Authority’s instructions.

He said that, because he had stopped working on the extension, he had to dismiss an employee. He also explained that when his father put ownership of the quarry in his name it was simply so that his dad could start receiving his pension and the only work he did was to drive a truck. The rest was handled by his children which effectively rendered him their employee.

The magistrate said these arguments did nothing to “neutralise” the evidence presented by the prosecution.

He found Mr Azzopardi guilty of extending the quarry without the necessary permits and failing to obey planning authority instructions.

Failure to adhere to the order to reinstate the area, under planning authority direction, would result in a daily fine of €60, Magistrate Grixti ruled.