A magistrate has accused the planning authority of profiting from its monopoly on issuing permits and imposing conditions beyond its remit.

Magistrate Silvio Meli made the comments in a judgment in which he ordered the Malta Environment and Planning Authority to refund a building contractor €11,646.87 paid as contribution but which had not been used by the authorities.

Żrar Ltd complained it had paid the money to Mepa as a contribution towards a trust fund for the conservation and rehabilitation of an area in Dingli Cliffs known as Għar il-Kbir and Clapham Junction, which has archaeological importance.

The contribution was to be administered by Mepa together with the Museums Department and the Siġġiewi local council and had to be refunded to the company if it were not used within three years from the issue of the permit. According to the company, the permit was issued in January 2001, so the deposit was due to be refunded to it in January 2004.

Magistrate Meli said the case was very worrying because Mepa, which had a monopoly on the issue of permits, appeared to be profiting from this monopoly and was imposing conditions that exceeded its remit. He argued that if Mepa imposed conditions that went beyond its statutory parameters, developers would still have to comply to obtain a permit.

In this case, it turned out that Mepa declared in a letter, dated November 22, 2000, that the contribution would be refunded if not used within three years. However, this condition was not included in the permit, which was eventually issued to the developer. No reason for this discrepancy was given. Mepa was saying one thing in the letter and another in the permit. In the circumstances, the magistrate said, the authority was taking advantage of clients. This indicated a lack of good faith on the part of the authority.

The court ordered Mepa to refund the sum of €11,646.87 to Żrar Ltd.