The president of the Nationalist Party has asked the Police Commissioner and the chairman of the planning authority to investigate claims that he exerted undue pressure to be granted development permits for his land in Baħrija.

In separate letters, Victor Scerri said the controversy surrounding the granting of a permit to build a villa on land owned by him and his wife erupted because he was involved in politics.

He said he felt comfortable asking for such an investigation because he knew he had not put any undue pressure on anyone.

"I believe the permits would have been issued to any other common citizen in the same circumstances, as is done regularly, and the controversy just before an election would not have erupted had it been anybody else who was involved," he said.

Dr Scerri said the development process had been going on since 2000 and no one had ever objected before.

The development was revealed by the Labour Party shortly before the June 6 European Parliament elections. Since then, the cannons of various environmental non-governmental organisations have turned against the Malta Environment and Planning Authority for granting the permit.

The environmental organisations called for the Prime Minister's urgent intervention to stop the construction of the house in the Baħrija valley and condemned the Malta Environment and Planning Authority's "flagrant disregard of the structure plan and its policies".

They said its website cited the valley as a special area of conservation for its ecological and scientific importance under the Habitats Directive, pointing out that the watercourse was classified as "one of the most important freshwater habitats in the Maltese islands".

The architect overseeing the development, Robert Musumeci, said last week the new development would replace an old and dangerous residence. It would be built further up the watercourse than the structure it would replace and would have a smaller environmental impact.

No objections had been lodged and the development permit process was completely transparent, formal and legal.

There were no grounds to instil doubts when none were justified, Mr Musumeci had said.

In his letters to Mepa and to the police, Dr Scerri promised his cooperation during the investigations.