Wirt Għawdex has accused the planning authority of "inconsistency" with regard to development permits in Dwejra.

The NGO welcomed the Malta Environment and Planning Authority's decision to reject an application to sanction a number of boathouses in the Inland Sea area of Dwejra. But a few days later, it said, Mepa approved the amended application of the so-called "interpretation centre", which Wirt Għawdex said was a much more intrusive structure than the boathouses.

Being an outside development zone, no new building should have been allowed in such a sensitive ecological site, the NGO argued.

The "interpretation centre" forms part of a heritage management plan for the area approved in 2005 but it was described as a commercially-driven monstrosity that did not respect its surroundings.

Work on the half-built structure was halted almost two years ago after the developers departed from the original plans but it was given the green light under new plans that will see the top floor replaced with a wooden frame.