Updated at 7pm

The Planning Authority has categorically denied that it "closed an eye" to the illegal dumping of construction material in and around the vicinity of an abandoned quarry in the limits of Siġġiewi, as alleged by Partit Demokratiku.

Following a site inspection last April, enforcement action was initiated and an enforcement notice was issued, the PA said in a statement. 

The breach was for the abandoned state of a disused quarry, including the dumping of derelict structures, scrap material and other materials at a scheduled area which forms part of a Special Area of Conservation.

The enforcement notice required that the contravenor submits to the authority a restoration method statement to reinstate the quarry and its surroundings to its original state.

Later in the year, the restoration method statement was approved by the enforcement directorate in consultation with the Environment and Resources Authority. 

The ERA said on Friday evening that the quarry was subject to an environmental permit to restore the quarry. Following an inspection on February 1, its officers observed that inert material was being stored in an area that is not permitted for this purpose.

"Immediate instructions were given to the operator to submit a method statement to clear the area by removing the said material. The time-frames proposed by the operator to clear the area were not to the satisfaction of ERA. In this regard the operator was instructed to remove the material by mid-March.
ERA will continue to monitor the site to ascertain compliance," it said.