Gozitan quarry owner Joseph Attard was fined €100,000 by the Gozo Courts for illegally developing outside the perimeters of his licensed quarry at Ta’Ghansar in Wied Merill, limits of San Lawrenz.

He was also found guilty of excavating an illegal new quarry adjacent to the licensed quarry.

The court, which delivered this judgement while the owner is still trying to sanction these illegal works, also ordered Mr Attard to return the sites back to their original state within three months.

Magistrate Giovanni Grixti imposed the highest fine a Gozitan Court has ever inflicted on quarry owners, who in the past have carried out works without or beyond the planning permits.

The Magistrate also ordered Mr. Attard that should he not re-instate the site within a three month period he would be liable to a fine of €60 per day.

MEPA had issued two enforcement notices on this site prior to making a formal complaint with the police for them to initiate court proceedings against the contravenor.

This latest judgmens comes just a few days after MEPA, through the new environmental and planning law, stopped allowing landowners the opportunity to submit planning applications that seek to regularise illegal development carried out after May 2008 in protected and ODZ areas.

The authority has also recently published for public consultation two legal notices which will regulate the introduction on the new daily fines and penalties as it continues with its efforts to tighten enforcement by dissuading people from carrying out illegal development.

Last year, MEPA launched a new environmental permitting programme for all the quarries in Malta and Gozo to address environmental shortcomings and to assist quarry owners in achieving the full legal compliance according to the environmental regulations.

The authority expects that by the end of this year all operational quarries would have become or are in the process of full compliance.

MEPA legal procurator Joe Catania assisted the police with the prosecution.