A large garage, with an external footprint of over 63m², built without permits along Triq il-Banjijiet Rumani between Mgarr and Zebbiegh, has been demolished by Mepa.

The Authority said that although the site owner, following the issuing of an enforcement notice, tried to sanction the development, which was in an archaeologically sensitive area, the Development Control Commission had refused the application given that the development was effectively more than four times larger and higher than what the policy for an agricultural store will permit. Additionally the Commission noted that the applicant was not a registered farmer.

Architect Alexander Borg, Director of Enforcement said: "The establishment, last year, of an enforcement directorate with a dedicated structure, has made the Authority much more effective in ensuring that its policy and decisions are being respected and complied with, and the deterrence to embark on illegal development as a result has increased."

The Authority also intervened on two separate sites in Gozo. In Qala, it  demolished a rural structure which was constructed on the periphery of an ODZ area, along the ridge which lies below the promenade, best know for its breathtaking views of Malta and Comino. The illegal structure, which the contravenor tried to camouflage with vegetation, included a room with rubble wall cladding, another structure below it, and an unsightly metal pipe structure above it. This operation spanned over two days.

In Kercem in Triq l-Ghadir, the Authority removed a number of concrete slabs that were illegally placed over a reservoir that was not to be roofed over so as to avoid its possible conversion to some other use.

The Authority, in late June, also removed a large illegal structure which was roofing an area covering approximately 54 square meters in a sensitive rural area known as Ta' Majru in the limits of Marsascala.

In Swieqi and Ghaxaq, the Authority sealed off two garages which were being illegally used as a store for a nearby supermarket and as a sprayer respectively. In Cospicua, adjacent to the Cottonera fortifications, the enforcement directorate demolished parts of a room that had been constructed illegally.