Moviment Graffitti sent a letter to the Prime Minister, the Planning Minister and the Planning Authority CEO, demanding that immediate action is taken against Joseph Portelli’s illegal swimming pools in Qala’s ODZ, while also asking for changes in the laws that allowed these illegal structures to be built before the appeal was decided.

The permit for these swimming pools was definitively revoked by the Court of Appeal on 13 March this year following an appeal lodged by Moviment Graffitti and the Qala Local Council. But, owing to absurd laws and the very bad decisions taken by the authorities concerned, these swimming pools have now been built.

Moviment Graffitti recalled how Joseph Portelli had the gall to publicly claim that there was nothing wrong with the illegal works he carried out in Qala before even submitting a planning application. When the application (PA/8143/21) was eventually submitted, the PA issued the permit, even though works had been carried out illegally; this was just one application in a project that had been salami-sliced to evade a holistic assessment; and it was in clear breach of planning policies.

On the same day that the permit for these swimming pools was revoked, the Court also revoked other permits of Joseph Portelli in Sannat – the construction of which, however, had also reached completion.

Moviment Graffitti recalled how on the 1st May 2023, Prime Minister Robert Abela had promised changes to the law so that development permits would not be executable until the appeal is decided. But the promised changes have not yet seen the light of day. The Government has only issued a very worrying public consultation which, under the pretext of introducing these long-overdue measures, was in fact seeking to limit the right to appeal. The organisations had officially presented their feedback to this consultation, and nothing more has been heard since.

Moviment Graffitti said that in the case of the swimming pools in Qala’s ODZ, it is clear that the responsibility for this mess must be fully borne by the authorities that issued the permit as well as by Government which has failed to change the laws on the suspension of the execution of permits during appeals.

Therefore, Moviment Graffitti is demanding that:

1. The authorities concerned publicly announce the actions that will be taken to remove the illegal swimming pools in Qala and set a maximum time frame within which the site is to be restored to its former state, at the expense of the developer.

2. Government immediately reforms the law related to planning appeals in order to protect the rights of appellants and make sure that developments are not built until the appeal is definitively concluded.

In the absence of a satisfactory response by Monday 22 April, Moviment Graffitti, together with communities and organisations across Malta and Gozo, will have no choice but to start carrying out actions to remedy this grave injustice against the environment and the Maltese and Gozitan people.

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Il-Moviment Graffitti bagħat ittra lill-Prim Ministru, lill-Ministru għall-Ippjanar u lis-CEO tal-Awtorità tal-Ippjanar, fejn talab azzjoni immedjata kontra l-pixxini illegali ta’ Joseph Portelli fl-ODZ tal-Qala, kif ukoll bidla fil-liġijiet li ħallew li dawn l-istrutturi illegali jitlestew qabel inqata’ l-appell.

Il-permess għal dawn il-pixxini ġie revokat b’mod definittiv mill-Qorti tal-Appell nhar it-13 ta’ Marzu ta’ din is-sena wara appell imressaq mill-Moviment Graffitti u l-Kunsill Lokali tal-Qala. Iżda, minħabba liġijiet assurdi u d-deċiżjonijiet żbaljati ferm li ttieħdu mill-awtoritajiet konċernati, dawn il-pixxini laħqu nbnew.

Il-Moviment Graffitti fakkar kif Joseph Portelli ftaħar pubblikament li beda x-xogħlijiet illegalment fl-ODZ meta lanqas kien għadu biss applika għal permess. Meta eventwalment l-applikazzjoni (PA/8143/21) ġiet sottomessa, l-Awtorità tal-Ippjanar ħarġet il-permess, minkejja li kien beda x-xogħol illegalment, minkejja li din kienet biss applikazzjoni waħda li tagħmel parti minn proġett enormi li ġie intenzjonalment frammentat sabiex ma jkunx hemm evalwazzjoni ħolistika tiegħu, u minkejja li tmur ċarament kontra l-liġijiet u l-politiki tal-ippjanar.

Fl-istess ġurnata tar-revoka tal-permess għal dawn il-pixxini, il-Qorti rrevokat ukoll permessi oħra tal-iżviluppatur Joseph Portelli fis-Sannat li, iżda, kienu wkoll laħqu nbnew.

Il-Moviment Graffitti fakkar kif fl-1 ta’ Mejju tal-2023, il-Prim Ministru Robert Abela kien wiegħed li ser tinbidel il-liġi sabiex permessi għall-iżvilupp ma jkunux effettivi sakemm jinqata’ l-appell. Iżda din il-bidla baqgħet ma seħħitx. Ħarġet biss konsultazzjoni pubblika problematika ferm għaliex taħt il-pretest ta’ din il-bidla meħtieġa kienet fil-fatt qed tipproponi limitazzjonijiet serji u inaċċettabli fuq id-dritt tal-appell. L-għaqdiet taw ir-reazzjoni dettaljata tagħhom għal din il-konsultazzjoni, u minn dak iż-żmien ’l hawn ma nstema’ xejn iktar.

Il-Moviment Graffitti qal li fil-każ tal-permess għall-pixxini fl-ODZ tal-Qala, huwa ċar li saret tgħassida kbira u li r-responsabilità tagħha jridu jġorruha bis-sħiħ l-awtoritajiet li ħarġu l-permess kif ukoll il-Gvern li baqa’ ma biddilx il-liġijiet dwar s-sospensjoni tal-eżekuzzjoni tal-permessi waqt appell.

Għalhekk, il-Moviment Graffitti talab li:

1. L-awtoritajiet konċernati jħabbru pubblikament x’azzjonijiet ser ikunu qed jittieħdu sabiex jitneħħew il-pixxini illegali fil-Qala u jagħtu żmien massimu sakemm is-sit jitreġġa’ lura għall-istat li kien fih, a spejjeż tal-iżviluppatur.

2. Il-Gvern iħabbar minnufih riforma fil-liġi marbuta mal-appelli tal-ippjanar sabiex ikunu mħarsa d-drittijiet tal-appellanti u l-iżviluppi ma jinbnewx sakemm l-appell jinqata’ b’mod definittiv.

Fin-nuqqas ta’ tweġiba sodisfaċenti sa nhar it-Tnejn 22 t’April, il-Moviment Graffitti, flimkien ma’ komunitajiet u għaqdiet madwar Malta u Għawdex, mhux se jkollu l-ebda għażla ħlief li jibda jwettaq azzjonijiet ħalli tiġi rimedjata din l-inġustizzja gravi kontra l-ambjent u l-poplu Malti u Għawdxi.