It is not yet known whether the government will enforce a temporary agreement signed with J. Gaffarena Service Station of Qormi three years ago.
Both Planning Parliamentary Secretary Deborah Schembri and the Planning Authority itself have turned down a request by this newspaper to be given a copy of the temporary agreement and to declare whether they would now move to enforce it.
According to public declarations made by former planning parliamentary secretary Michael Farrugia, the Gaffarenas signed a legal agreement giving them a 36-month ‘temporary clearance’ to either reverse the illegalities at their fuel station or obtain the necessary sanctioning.
According to Dr Farrugia, if the deal was not honoured by the end of the 36 months – March 2017 – the agreement would cease, with the consequence that a “€500,000 bank guarantee would be forfeited and the operations halted”.
During the hearing, it resulted that the Gaffarenas had made no changes to the fuel station site, on the contrary expecting that they would be sanctioned following a change to the fuel stations policy by the PA.
The board refused the Gaffarenas’ arguments and said the illegal structures at the fuel station were still against the law.
A number of questions to Dr Schembri about whether the government would now moveto enforce the agreement and close down the fuel station remained unanswered.
Efforts to reach her on the phone were unsuccessful, and text messages were not responded to. The same happened with regard to the PA. In an effort to establish whether the €500,000 bank guarantee had in fact been deposited by the Gaffarenas, this newspaper asked for proof of payment, but again, there was no response from the PA.
PA officials told the Times of Malta that since the temporary clearance granted to the petrol station was unique, it was not yet known what would happen.
“The three years clearly elapse this month, and it has been confirmed that the illegalities are still there. A political decision will have to be taken as to whether the agreement is honoured. It’s either sealing off the fuel station once again or finding a way out to please the Gaffarenas,” one official said.
The controversial fuel station was sealed off by the then Malta Environment and Planning Auth-ority in 2008, as the premises were found to include illegal buildings, including a basement and a first floor.
The station remained closed until March 2014, when following a change in policy by the Labour government, an agreement for a 36-month temporary clearance was issued for the fuel station to operate only the legal parts of the building.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has always denied accusations from the Opposition that the temporary clearance was a pre-electoral promise.
ivan.camilleri@timesofmalta.com
March 14, 2014 – the Gaffarenas announce the opening of the fuel station on Facebook.