The eight organisers of Saturday's protest by environment NGOs in Valletta insisted this afternoon that Din L-Art Helwa never formed part of the organisation of the activity and never said it would take part in it.

Reacting to a statement by DLH that it was dropping out of the protest, Alex Vella, of the Ramblers' Association, insisted that "Din l-Art Helwa did not drop out of the rally because it was never in it."

He said that apart from differences on the Piano plans for Valletta, DLH supported the other NGOs on all the illegalities over which the protest is being held.

"They have their reasons for not participating in the rally, and we respect them," Mr Vella said.

Astrid Vella, coordinator of Flimkien Ghal Ambjent Ahjar, said the NGOs were not against the Valletta project, but they were dismayed to see the government violating EU regulations on consultation and the Structure Plan. She said that a limited environment impact assessment and a traffic management plan for the Valletta project had not yet been made.

The rally is being organised by the Ramblers, FAA, Friends of the Earth, BirdLife Malta, Nature Trust, Graffitti, Greenhouse and the Malta Organic and Agricultural Movement.

They will also be protesting over environmental abuse by developers and the lack of law enforcement by Mepa. Mr Vella said Mepa was not fulfilling its obligations and had become apologetic for illegalities that took place.

The NGO representatives also complained of illegal scrapyards, building outside development zones, poor air quality and illegal groundwater extraction.

The protest starts at 10 a.m. at City Gate.