An illegal wall in Swieqi has residents at their wits’ end after it barricaded a residential road and hindered attempts at resurfacing it, mayor Noel Muscat said.
Residents contacted by Times of Malta said they were being forced to park several roads away from their homes as their road had suddenly become a dead end.
“I drove home one day and the road had been blocked by a wall. I don’t understand how someone can just decide to do that,” Myriam Galea said.
The wall, on the corner of Triq Tal-Franċiż and Menville Road, is less than a metre high and runs around a small section of bumpy road that was covered by soil and building debris last June.
Mr Muscat said he had been receiving a constant stream of complaints from residents since the unauthorised barrier was first put up.
“Residents are upset and rightly so. This wall was completely illegal and has caused a major inconvenience. It may have been a bumpy road but you can’t just decide it isn’t a road anymore. People used to drive down it every day,” he said.
Residents are upset and rightly so
The lack of access was not the only headache caused by the problematic partition; Mr Muscat said it had come in the way of Transport Malta’s plans to resurface the road.
“The road is in need of a new layer of asphalt as it is in poor shape. We were in talks with the transport authority but now all that has been put on hold until this is resolved,” he said.
The developers were issued with an enforcement notice by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority ordering them to halt all construction until the illegally built wall was removed last November.
However, despite the enforcement notice and a daily fine for noncompliance, the wall still stands and development appears to be ongoing.
“I live right near the development site and the works have definitely continued. I know because I can hear it from my house.
“These people seem to think they can do whatever they want,” lamented another resident who preferred not to be named.
When an enforcement notice is not complied with the planning authority normally issues fines ranging from €4 to €25 daily.