James Debono
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi has asked the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA) whether an application to legalise and rebuild the illegal Armier boathouses, would conform to planning policies – even if the policy that actually foresees this kind of development still does not have government approval.
Gonzi promised he would consult with MEPA “within six months of being re-elected” on the illegal Armier shacks, after striking a deal with the boathouse owners exactly 19 days before the March general action; and just five days after having announced his intention to take MEPA under his wing.
The permits concern the replacement of the existing Armier shantytown – a seaside conglomeration of illegal boathouses – with 1,589 new beach rooms.
But MEPA cannot issue any permits until its Marfa Action Plan, concerning development in Armier, is actually ratified by MEPA and the government.
Asked whether the government has honoured the commitment made to the Armier squatters, a spokesperson for the Prime Minister said the government had asked for MEPA’s views “on the compatibility of the planning applications submitted by Armier Developments with the policies that regulate its decisions, and is currently awaiting a reply.”
In February 2008, Gonzi promised boathouse owners that following MEPA’s approval, he would present a parliamentary resolution to transfer 230 tumoli of public land in Armier to the company representing the boathouse owners, Armier Developments through “a title of temporary emphyteusis”.
The same commitment had originally been made in another pre-election agreement signed eight days before the 2003 election with home affairs minister Tonio Borg. The 230 tumoli would be leased for 65 years, for Lm157,000 (approx. €350,000) a year – a mere Lm100 (approx €250) a year for each boathouse owner – on which an additional 500 units could be built for “persons not presently occupying any boathouse in the area.”

No plan, no permit
What’s sure is that the draft Marfa Action Plan – the planning guidelines for the Marfa area – has still not been ratified by MEPA pr government since it was issued for consultation in 2002.
So with the action plan still on MEPA’s shelves, any application to legalise the Armier boathouses had to remain in limbo.
The plan identifies five sites for the development of beach rooms within stipulated guidelines.
In 2004, Armier Developments applied for a permit for 1,589 two-storey beach rooms: comprising of 575 rooms, a bowls pitch, two playgrounds at Ramlet il-Qortin, 319 rooms, a mini-market, restaurant, two community centres, 175 beach rooms, two-storey car park, another playing field in the Barriera tal-Ahrax quarry and one near the Torri l-Abjad, 272 rooms, a clinic and a restaurant at Little Armier and a further 248 rooms.
But since then, the application remained pending because the Marfa Action Plan is not yet officialised.
Last April, a MEPA spokesperson confirmed that “all pending applications in the Armier area will remain pending until the Marfa Action Plan will be finalised and approved.”
The Prime Minister’s spokesperson now confirms that the Marfa Action Plan has “not been submitted for the Government’s endorsement as it is still under consideration.”
Although the draft Marfa Action Plan sought to provide “a holistic and comprehensive approach” for this development, the plan foresaw an increase in the land area covered by beach rooms from the existing 67,000 square meters to around 231,000 square meters.
But six years later MEPA is still addressing a number of land ownership and land use issues, which according to the authority must be resolved before it can submit the Marfa Action Plan for approval by the MEPA board, and then for endorsement by Gonzi, as minister responsible for MEPA.
Despite MEPA’s procrastination on approving the Marfa Action Plan, the Armier squatters can still rest assured that none of the illegal development will be demolished.
In fact the pre-electoral agreement also binds the government not to demolish any of the boathouses built before 1992 until MEPA takes a decision on the applications presented by Armier Developments.
But until permits are approved the squatters remain in a legal limbo, where although permitted to stay on the land they usurped, they still enjoy no legal title on it.

jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt

Gonzi’s deal in Armier
www.maltatoday.com.mt/2008/04/20/t1.html