Earlier this year, the Malta Environment and Planning Authority together with the Ministry for Rural Affairs and the Environment and all the local councils made a step forward to address the environmental and safety impact that vacant sites create. Regulations providing for the walling off of vacant sites, within the development boundary scheme, which are creating environmental hazards are now being enforced.

Unattended vacant sites in urban areas end up many a time being unscrupulously used as locations for dumping all sorts of waste by irresponsible individuals. These sites become a true eyesore and a threat to the health and well-being of citizens. This initiative calls for the building of a boundary wall, after such sites have been adequately cleaned, to close off the vacant plots. A set of basic building criteria to ensure the construction of such walls in an acceptable manner has been issued by Mepa.

The immediate positive effect of this initiative is being felt and many owners of such sites immediately complied without the need of enforcing the requirement. Since then, about 900 vacant plots had boundary walls built.

However, now that the initial implementation phase is over, I feel the need to clarify once again the procedure involved and introduce the implementation of the second phase of this initiative.

For the benefit of all, the whole procedure agreed with the Local Councils Association before the initiative came into force is that local councils should advise Mepa of such sites in order for Mepa to issue an enforcement notice. If the owner does not comply within three months from the issue of this notice, then Mepa will commission the local council to act as its contractor and do the necessary works itself. Mepa will then reimburse the local council of all expenses and will collect back all expenses and all relevant fines when a development application is submitted.

Failure to abide by this notice within the above-mentioned three months will result in a fine of Lm50 per metre of frontage subject to a maximum of Lm1,000.

Together with this, the site owner will have to pay, with interest, for the expenses the local council would have incurred for the construction of the boundary wall. No development permits will be issued on these sites if the bills are not settled.

During the introduction of this initiative, site owners were given three months to comply from the issue of the enforcement notice. This made sure that site owners were given enough time to properly understand the requirements of this initiative and abide by them. Now, six months down the line, I feel we should move on to the implementation of the second phase of this initiative and, as part of this phase, reduce the time given to site owners to comply with Mepa's standard 16 days.

The second phase of this initiative will be launched on December 1.

The 900 boundary walls erected during the last seven months are certainly a positive start. To date, five enforcement notices have been issued by Mepa to owners who failed to erect boundary walls around their vacant sites. Furthermore, 179 complaints were received from local councils since new regulations came into force making it necessary to wall off such sites.

The set of guidelines issued to ensure that the constructed boundary walls will be adequate and coherent with the environment and safety standards shall be reviewed for clarity as part of the second phase of this initiative. These criteria currently identify that: the site should be cleared from any type of waste; the eight-course boundary wall should be constructed along the official building line; it should be constructed of limestone or concrete brick material; a four-inch concrete capping should be placed above the top course to secure the wall and single walls should have stone pillars constructed to support the wall at two-metre intervals or as advised by the architect overseeing the works.

I trust that local councils shall continue to assist Mepa in this initiative and that, with their cooperation, this concrete step taken by the government will continue reducing inconveniences within residential areas. This will also guarantee improvement in the quality of life for all citizens.

Mr Pullicino is Minister of Rural Affairs and the Environment.