Mepa revokes Ramla permit
Published on The Times of Malta on Friday 5th October, 2007 by Mark Micallef.
The authority's lawyer, Ian Stafrace, and Gaia Foundation director Rudolf Ragonesi, a lawyer himself, countered this point saying that the amount of public land being taken up did not really matter in this case. What did was that the authority could not enter into a public deed with the developer as required by the permit conditions.
The developer's lawyers kept insisting that they would be challenging the government's claim of ownership on the contended tract of land and if successful would claim damages, should Mepa revoke their permit without waiting for the outcome.
However, the voting took no time and the nine board members present unanimously agreed to withdraw the permit.
As expected, NGOs at the sitting were in a celebratory mood. The Gaia Foundation and Din L-Art Helwa commended the board for its decision in a joint statement.
Astrid Vella, from Flimkien Ghal Ambjent Ahjar, said she was delighted with the outcome. "This is a huge step forward for civil society, the people spoke and authorities listened. We now hope that this signals a similar fate for the Ta' Cenc and Hondoq ir-Rummien projects."
To view thw whole article go to, http://www.timesofmalta.com/core/article.php?id=3393&hilite=hondoq
The authority's lawyer, Ian Stafrace, and Gaia Foundation director Rudolf Ragonesi, a lawyer himself, countered this point saying that the amount of public land being taken up did not really matter in this case. What did was that the authority could not enter into a public deed with the developer as required by the permit conditions.
The developer's lawyers kept insisting that they would be challenging the government's claim of ownership on the contended tract of land and if successful would claim damages, should Mepa revoke their permit without waiting for the outcome.
However, the voting took no time and the nine board members present unanimously agreed to withdraw the permit.
As expected, NGOs at the sitting were in a celebratory mood. The Gaia Foundation and Din L-Art Helwa commended the board for its decision in a joint statement.
Astrid Vella, from Flimkien Ghal Ambjent Ahjar, said she was delighted with the outcome. "This is a huge step forward for civil society, the people spoke and authorities listened. We now hope that this signals a similar fate for the Ta' Cenc and Hondoq ir-Rummien projects."
To view thw whole article go to, http://www.timesofmalta.com/core/article.php?id=3393&hilite=hondoq
posted by Hondoq at
9:32 AM
