Construction magnate Charles Polidano has submitted a detailed statement to the planning authority on how he intends to restore a large area in Ħal Farruġ where hundreds of tons of machinery and rubble have been dumped illegally over the years.
The site, behind Polidano Brothers’ headquarters, had been sealed off last year by Mepa after being turned into an illegal storage depot and scrapyard.
The company has now submitted a restoration method statement on upgrading and embellishing it and is waiting for the go-ahead to start the work, Mr Polidano’s lawyer told Times of Malta.
The move follows last month’s Mepa raid on another tract of land spanning 64,000 square metres owned by the Polidanos.
The planning authority’s intention to demolish several illegal structures was thwarted when the company won an injunction.
A day later, however, the usually brusque Mr Polidano wrote a letter to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat apologising for any inconvenience caused by his developments.
He expressed his “willingness to fully cooperate with the authorities on the matter” and promised to halt the works. He then withdrew the injunction and started discussions with Mepa.
Over the years, the company has racked up more than €20,000 in fines over illegal development on its vast stretches of land, covering an area of more than 300,000 square metres.
Polidano Bros’ lawyer Jean Paul Sammut said the company’s architects had submitted a detailed restoration method statement in which it was proposing to clear up the site, embellish it and restore it by adding soil and planting trees.
The authority had slapped the company with an enforcement notice in 2009 for illegal dumping on the site but stepped up its action last year following a story that appeared in Times of Malta.
Dr Sammut said the company was awaiting Mepa’s go-ahead to start the work with its own machinery and employees under the supervision of Mepa officers.
In the meantime, the company’s architects were working on a similar document on illegal structures in the Monte Kristo area, which were targeted by Mepa’s direct action at the end of November.
He said the company was planning to hold an on-site inspection with Mepa officers to determine what was acceptable and what was not and therefore had to go.