A squatter who has been occupying part of Zammit Clapp hospital’s car park for almost a decade has now been cleared from the site.

The Land Department moved in on February 6 to remove all structures and clear the car park, which can now be used by those visiting the hospital.

The squatter had erected a fence at the far end of the hospital’s car park and placed structures to house his horses and other animals.

In recent years he had extended ‘his’ area, erecting a wall and fence about 10 metres further out. The cleared area can now host some 20 other cars parked in the vicinity of the hospital. When Times of Malta reported the case last April, an enforcement notice was issued by Mepa but no action followed.

In recent years he had extended ‘his’ area, erecting a wall and fence

Almost a year later, the Land Department moved in to clear the inconvenience for residents and hospital staff who have been complaining about the problem for years.

In fact, three years ago, John Borg wrote a letter to Times of Malta complaining of “shifting responsibility from one department to another” as he queried several government departments complaining about the matter after visiting the hospital.

The space occupied by the squatter at the car park of Zammit Clapp hospital.

Last May, following the Times of Malta report a month earlier, the religious order Society of the Sacred Heart filed a judicial protest after an enforcement order was served to the society, for illegally built structures on its land, of which the car park forms part.

It rejected responsibility for the squatter saying the government had expropriated this property in 1989, so it no longer had jurisdiction.

The judicial protest was filed against the planning authority and the Commissioner of Land, who the society said was responsible for the property.