Construction magnate Charles Polidano (iċ-Ċaqnu) acquittal of illegal waste dumping was today confirmed on appeal.
Mr Polidano had been cleared in 2013 of a series of charges related to the alleged dumping of construction waste by Eco Ways Radam Ltd inside a Kirkop quarry without being in possession of the necessary licence and also in breach of the relative regulations.
An appeal was filed by the Attorney General who argued that the first court had based its decision on an apparent conflict between the versions given by the parties. The prosecution had alleged that non-inert waste had been dumped in the quarry illegally, whereas the defence had countered that the waste had been dumped in a site purposely earmarked by the competent authorities.
The court of appeal, presided over by Mr Justice David Scicluna, observed that the dumping was regulated by a private agreement between the owner of the quarry and a company who would do the ‘infilling’ with construction waste.
The former MEPA environment protection officer tasked with inspecting the site in August 2005 had reported that non-inert waste had been dumped. Orders to remove such waste and to apply for a relative permit were allegedly left unheeded so that by February 2006 the quarry had been ‘totally landfilled’, the officer had testified.
However, the court of appeal observed that the prosecution had failed to prove that the dumping activity had actually been done by Eco Ways Radam Ltd.Nor had it been proved that Mr Polidano was
Nor had it been proved that Mr Polidano was director in said company. None of the trucks and machines photographed at the quarry were identifiable as belonging to Eco Ways. Furthermore, a report on the quarry drawn up by Johann Buttigieg was never exhibited in the records of the case and nor was its author ever called to testify.
On the basis of such lack of evidence, the court rejected the appeal and confirmed the acquittal of Mr Polidano.
Lawyers Michael and Lucio Sciriha, together with lawyer Jean Paul Sammut were defence counsel.