A pro-spring hunting poster mounted on a billboard in Naxxar, one of those that had been declared illegal by Mepa. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

Billboards that had been declared illegal by the planning authority can be used by hunters for the referendum campaign because Mepa says this is allowed by law.

A spokesman for the Malta Environment and Planning Authority said when asked about the matter that a legal notice exempted such billboards from requiring a permit.

The exemption in question applied to an advertisement or the display thereof when it “related exclusively to a general election or to a referendum or to an election for local councils and which is displayed not earlier than three months before and not later than one month after the date on which such an election or referendum is held”.

Therefore, according to Mepa, in terms of the legal notice in question, these billboards are not illegal “from a planning point of view”.

When questions were sent to Mepa on the issue, it was pointed out that these billboards were not new structures but had been declared illegal by the planning authority itself as per enforcement orders issued last July, meaning they should have been removed some time ago. However, no explanation was forthcoming by the time of writing.

The billboards, owned by Aiken Services Ltd, were placed in arterial roads before the last elections to be used by the Labour Party for its campaign. However, they remained there even after the one-month time window allowed by law despite various reports to Mepa.

The exemption applied to an advertisement when it related exclusively to a general election, referendum or to an election for local councils

The enforcement notices issued last summer gave the owners three days to remove them. Mepa warned that unless they were removed by the owners, it would do so itself and then bill the owners for the expenses incurred.

Still, the billboards remained and were even used in campaigns financially supported by the government.

When some of these billboards were being used by the government to market independence anniversary celebrations last September, Planning Parliamentary Secretary Michael Falzon admitted that these were illegal and said they would be removed in a staggered manner.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat last May had also admitted the government was making use of illegal billboards but shifted the blame on to contractors. He had also said action would be taken.