I refer to the letter by Fiona Keeling entitled 'Do not ruin al fresco dining' (The Sunday Times, January 4). Since the restaurant in Xlendi has not been identified by the correspondent, the Parliamentary Secretariat for Tourism has investigated the claims on the general information submitted.

For clarity's sake, the placement of tables and chairs on public land by a catering establishment requires three permits/licences. A permit is required from the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (Mepa) in order to ensure that the placement of tables and chairs is in keeping with the local surrounding environment.

A permit by the Lands Department is required since the tables and chairs will be placed on public land. Once these two permits are obtained, a licence from the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) is issued in favour of the catering establishment concerned.

It results that the MTA has 29 catering establishments registered in Xlendi, 19 of which have a 'tables and chairs on the outside' permit.

The MTA has seven pending applications from Xlendi catering establishments, each of which is for an increase in the number of tables and chairs already permitted to be placed outside. In other words, there are no pending applications by establishments that do not already have a permit for tables and chairs to be placed outside.

Of the seven pending applications, one was refused by Mepa; two are being considered by the authority and four are being considered by the Lands Department, given that this involves further encroachment on public land.

Of these, only two are from establishments in a pedestrianised area in Xlendi as indicated by the correspondent. Contrary to the impression of a three-year "backlog of bureaucracy", one of these applications was registered at the MTA in July 2008 and the other at the MTA last August.

Notwithstanding this, we invite your correspondent to call the MTA Licensing Unit on 2291 5000 to submit more details of the case she is referring to. We trust that the unit will be of service to her.