NGOs call for PMs direct intervention

NGOs call for PM’s direct intervention

The Ramblers’ Association of Malta, Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar and Nature Trust Malta
call for urgent direct intervention by the Prime Minister, as Minister responsible for the
MEPA, to stop what they consider to be flagrant disregard of the Structure Plan and its
Policies by unaccountable MEPA boards.

The three NGOs unreservedly condemn the MEPA decision to grant building permission
for a rustic house directly on the valley floor of Wied tal-Bahrija.

The MEPA website cites the valley as a Special Area of Conservation for its ecological and
scientific importance under the Habitats Directive. It clarifies that the “Bahrija valley
system supports typical watercourse vegetation and several rare and endangered species
as well as endemic ones with a restricted distribution in the Maltese Islands.” The Wied
Rini and Wied il-Bahrija watercourse is classified as “one of the most important freshwater
habitats in the Maltese Islands.”

The NGOs question the infringement of all 16 policies contemplated in the Structure Plan
with respect to Rural Conservation Areas, to Areas of Scenic Value, to Areas of
Agricultural Value, to Ecology and to Valleys that were violated in the granting of this
permit?

“The Structure Plan adopts a blanket prohibition of development in rural areas, except for
legitimate uses (like agriculture development), as described in Para 7.6 of the Structure
Plan; the Structure Plan does not envisage growth in settlements ODZ.”

What ‘legitimate uses’ criteria drove the various MEPA boards from overturning every time
all recommendations for refusal by the technical officers?

The NGOs cannot understand how the permit allows the construction on the valley floor,
two meters away from the water course of such unique ecological and scientific
importance. The construction itself will furthermore ruin the scenic value of the pristine
valley. The negative impact will be aggravated by the infrastructural works required by the
development (water, electricity and drainage) as the site is only served by a concrete
country road.

The NGOs stress the fact that the Structure Plan stipulates that in order to protect the
countryside, a “blanket prohibition of urbanisation outside existing and planned urban
areas as designated in the Plan is designed to prevent the development of any structures
or activities in rural areas other than those legitimate and natural to them” Certainly in the
case of this permit, the NGOs maintain that the structure approved is neither legitimate
nor natural to the Bahrija valley.

Only the Prime Minister’s intervention can save the Bahrija valley for posterity.

The Ramblers’ Association of Malta/Flimkien Ghal Ambjent Ahjar/Nature Trust (Malta).

11.06.09