James Debono The lobby for Armier’s boathouse community has numbered and measured all the illegal rooms that make up the beach village to compile a list for the government with details of the occupants.
Writing in the latest edition of a the Armier lobby’s newsletter, Tarcisio Barbara, president of Armier Developments Ltd, announced that even the roads had been identified by the name given to them by the squatters. “We are now awaiting some clarifications from the authorities before being given an appointment to submit this information, as previously agreed.”
Armier Developments was asked to provide data about the boathouses built at Armier prior to 1992, in a meeting the held with Leonard Callus, deputy head of Gonzi’s secretariat, and private secretary Charles Bonello, held in March 2009.
At the meeting, the government promised to respect data protection provisions by not using this information for any other purpose – a promise interpreted by the lobby as a guarantee not to use this information against the squatters.
Following this meeting, the lobby began to send out registered letters to occupants who were not members of the organisation in an attempt to encourage them to participate in this exercise.
MaltaToday is informed that these include a number of people who bought their beach house from previous owners after 1992.
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi has already signed a written declaration promising not to demolish boathouses built prior to 1992. The declaration was made in an unpublicised meeting held in Castille just three weeks before the crucial 2008 general election.
With the list of pre-1992 owners, the government could stop speculation on public land at Armier, amid reports that a number of boathouses are being sold to new owners – who now feel reassured by the government’s promise to regularise the shantytown.
In August 2008, MaltaToday revealed that a number of boathouses were openly on sale, fetching prices of €35,000 for the transfer of keys of a boathouse, fully serviced with water and electricity.
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