Charles Polidano has proceeded to carry out finishing works on an office block in Luqa that Mepa had ruled was illegal.

The work was carried out despite an enforcement notice leading to a court case against the developer, according to Mepa.

The five-storey office block was partly covered by a permit but Mr Polidano known as iċ-Ċaqnu, built two additional floors without the planning authority’s approval. Recently, apertures were being placed on the doors and windows of the property and internal works were conducted.

The block is adjacent to Montekristo Estates, defined by Mepa as one of “Malta’s largest illegally developed sites”.

When Times of Malta witnessed the finishing works last April, Mepa was asked whether any action would be taken but failed to reply to this question.

This newspaper then asked the Ombudsman’s Commissioner for Planning David Pace to assess whether it was legal for work to continue.

Water was seeping in,so the work had to be done. Why don’t you ask Mepa why it sat on our applications for years?

“If the finishing works formed part of the development applied for, such as apertures, materials, colours to façade, landscaping and so on, then such work cannot proceed if hit by enforcement action,” Mr Pace said. The commissioner then took the initiative to open an investigation, demanding answers from the planning authority. A detailed reply came within a couple of weeks saying Mepa had started court proceedings against Mr Polidano for breach of the enforcement notice. The case is ongoing.

“According to Mepa CEO [Johann Buttigieg] it is up to the court to decide whether to order works to stop in the interim pending the decision on the case, or let them carry on,” Mr Pace said.

Meanwhile, Mr Polidano’s lawyer and spokesman Jean Paul Sammut, defended the finishing works saying they were needed to stem damage to the building.

“Water was seeping into the building so the work had to be done. Why don’t you ask Mepa why it sat on our development applications – costing thousands of euros – for years?” Dr Sammut said.

When it was put to him that Mr Polidano has a track record of building first and applying for permits later, Dr Sammut said the building opposite got more floors than Mr Polidano’s office block, “So why not us?”

After the enforcement notice was issued on the office block, Mr Polidano applied for a permit to sanction the infringements in 2010. In addition, he is requesting permits for increasing the size of the adjacent petrol station to include a car wash and tyre inflation bays.

The petrol station was also built without a permit and approved by Mepa later.