Government issues eviction decree for Karwija farmers
James Debono
A decree terminating the lease on five agricultural tenements – covering 21,790 square metres of agricultural land in Karwija, limits of Safi – was signed by President George Abela on 1 March 2010.
The government deems termination of the leases essential for an aviation park project, a substantial part of which was approved over four days last February by means of a Development Notification Order: a procedure normally used by MEPA to approve small, temporary developments such as air-conditioning units, etc., but applicable to any development within the airport perimeter.
The area where agricultural activity will be terminated is equivalent in size to three average sized football pitches. The leases have been terminated because the land is required for a “public purpose.”
A spokesperson for Minister Tonio Fenech confirmed that the Malta Industrial Parks has asked for the termination of these agricultural leases to make way for the proposed SR Technic Aviation park.
“This is essential to allow the construction of the necessary infrastructure for a project which will attract a significant investment to Malta and create a substantial number of new employment opportunities,” the government spokesperson told MaltaToday.
Farmers were only informed of the termination of their leases by the Commissioner of Lands on 25 March, weeks after they were surprised by Malta Industrial Parks officials who started taking measurements of the land in question. The land includes a farmhouse full of livestock, as well as farmland mainly dedicated to potato cultivation. It also includes two carob trees, some olive trees and vineyards.
The land was leased from the government for at least the past three generations, farmers told MaltaToday. They also claim the development will affect 10 families of part-time farmers.
Farmers in the area also allege political discrimination, insisting that the families effected by the termination of leases have known Labour sympathies and that nearby land belonging to farmers with Nationalist sympathies has not been affected.
So far, no development permit has been issued on the land worked by the farmers, and plans exhibited when the project was inaugurated two weeks ago did not include this agricultural land.
In February, MEPA issued a permit for the demolition and construction of a new hangar through the application of a DNO.
The development, approved in just four days, covers a substantial part of the proposed 20-hectare aviation park, but any development outside the parameters of the airport, such as the re-routing of the existing road leading to Safi, will require a full development permit.
The project will lead to the closure of the road leading to Safi. Instead, the present taxiway will be turned into a road leading to Safi centre.
The €17 million project is being spearheaded by Malta Industrial Parks, which falls under the Ministry for Finance.
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