Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1186350
5 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 20 NOVEMBER 2019 NEWS JAMES DEBONO THE company planning for a petrol station on the Salina road intersection on the Alla W Om- mu Hill, is now applying to have the two original farmhouses de- molished for the petrol pump, rebuilt. Abelcare dropped the derelict farmhouses to make way for a petrol station on a 3,500 sq.m site on the Salina road, after the Planning Authority approved its application for a fuel station – set outside the building zones – in 2017. But subsequently the permit was revoked and the application sent back for the PA board's consideration. In July, the board voted to reject the development. The two 19th century farm- houses set over 420 sq.m had been abandoned and were in a dilapidated state before their demolition. A new application by the same company now foresees the erec- tion of two new residences with swimming pools, each having a footprint of 187 sq.m and a pool and deck area of 35 sq.m. The houses will be built over a plot area of 3,577 sq.m. Over 75% of the site will be covered with soil. But since the developer has appealed against the PA's latest refusal to the petrol station, the application to construct the two villas may be a fallback position if the appeal is turned down. Planning saga In 2016, the PA board refused the permit for a petrol station by six votes to three for being in breach of the Strategic Plan for the Environment and Develop- ment (SPED). But the EPRT overturned the refusal, arguing that the board failed to explain why SPED policies protecting the rural environment should take precedence over the fuel sta- tions policy, which allow urban pumps to be relocated to ODZ and rural areas. That permit was brought back to the board in December 2017, with board members first indi- cating they would be refusing it, only to then vote in favour in January 2018. But in April 2019 the permit was revoked again by the EPRT for procedural reasons brought up in an appeal presented by residents, namely the PA's fail- ure to upload documents before the decision was taken. The case was taken back to the Plan- ning board which rejected the application in July. The reason given by the board for rejecting the application was the coming in to force of a strategic plan for Maghtab ap- proved in 2018 regulating de- velopment in the Maghtab area, made it clear that the contro- versial fuel station policy does not apply to this area. But in an appeal the develop- ers contend that since the per- mit was only revoked because of the PA's shortcomings, the PA cannot now invoke a policy which came in place after the permit was issued to turn it down, describing this action as a "violation of the rights and le- gitimate expectations of the ap- plicant." Two villas proposed instead of proposed Maghtab petrol station Abelcare proposes 'recreation' of farmhouses demolished to make way for petrol station into residential villas with pools MATTHEW VELLA A recording in which the Maltese pro- fessor Joseph Mifsud, implicated in the Russiagate scandal that has engulfed the Trump administration, appeared to deny claims that he was a spy was faked, his lawyer has claimed. The tape emerged last week in an Italian newspaper and was purported to have been made by Joseph Mifsud, who went missing after he was impli- cated in a Russian plot to influence the US presidential election that brought Donald Trump to power. In the recordings, sent anonymously to the Corriere della Sera, a person who identified him-self as Professor Mifsud, 59, said: "I would like, first of all, to say that I have absolutely no contact with friends and family for a number of months now. "It's been almost two years to date that the whole issue, blown-up issue, has been pre-sented to the world me- dia and on the world stage as if I had something to do with issues concern- ing countries or trying to infiltrate." The man in the recording goes on to describe as "absolutely absurd" the notion that he was involved with any "secret service, intelligence service or anybody of this sort", adding that he had always been a "networker" for academic purposes and that it was "not my intent — never was my intent — to try to obtain any information to pass from one side to the other. I have never done so because I was never, never in possession of any informa- tion which could be useful to one or the other." However, Stephan Roh, the Swiss lawyer acting for Professor Mifsud, told The Times of London it was a malicious hoax. He said: "We do not think it is him. The tapes seem to be fabricated." Roh even suggested that his client might be being held against his will by unknown people. "We are very con- cerned about Professor Mifsud's well- being," he said, "If, or not, the tapes are real, the procedure of anonymous messaging does remind me of kidnap- pings in Italy 30 years ago." Mifsud allegedly alerted Donald Trump's election campaign to Rus- sian-held emails contain-ing "dirt" on Hillary Clinton, his rival. Roh has also publicly claimed that the academic was a "western intelligence operator and did not act on behalf of Russia". But in the recording, 'Mifsud' denied claims that he knowingly worked for intelligence agencies, having been in hiding "with no human contact" for two years. Corriere della Sera said it received the recording through an anonymous email account late on Tuesday night. Bellingcat, the investigative jour- nalism site known for a series of ex- poses on Russian intelligence, said it analysed the recording and concluded that the voice is likely to belong to the Maltese academic, according to Buzz- feed News. Leaked Russiagate 'spy' tape is a fake, says Joseph Mifsud's lawyer Joseph Mifsud allegedly told a Trump aide Russia had 'dirt' on Hillary Clinton