Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1243341
8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 MAY 2020 NEWS POSTS OF LAWYER AND TRAINEE LAWYER AT THE OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL The Office of the Attorney General Agency is inviting applications for posts in the grade of Law-yer and Trainee Lawyer to carry out prosecution and related duties. The selected candidates will be employed on a full time indefinite term basis, subject to a probation period, and will be required to work for a minimum of forty hours per week. Applicants must, at least, be in possession of a warrant to practice the profession of Advocate and, in the case of applicants for the post of Lawyer, must have at least one year experience in the prac- tice of the profession covered by a warrant. . Letters of application, including a detailed CV, should be addressed to: e Administration Jobplus Vacancy Nos 357953/4, Permit Nos. 52/2019 and 53/2019 Office of the Attorney General, No. 53, Admiralty House, South Street, Valletta and should be submitted by not later than Friday 29th May 2020 at 13.00 hrs. Xghajra farmland illegally turned into construction plant, ERA demands action JAMES DEBONO THE Environment and Resourc- es Authority has once again ob- jected to the "malpractice" of car- rying out illegal development to then apply for retroactive sanc- tioning. The case concerns an attempt to permit an illegal dwelling in Xgħajra, whose adjoining agri- cultural land was changed into a construction yard. A two-storey residential prop- erty and garden also are inside the 2,220sq.m property. Original- ly a farm building, it was convert- ed into a dwelling in 1991. Now it includes a maintenance garage with parking area heavy machin- ery, and an office. But in 2018 the Planning Au- thority issued an enforcement order against the illegal installa- tion of a crusher, the removal of soil and the change-of-use from agricultural land into a recycling plant for construction waste. The owners appealed. The ERA is insisting that illegal development cannot be rewarded through retroactive sanctioning, and that the illegal development has to be removed and the site be properly restored to its original state as agricultural land. The area is also outside the de- velopment zone, having original- ly been arable piece of land, and being next to a valley protection zone and important water catch- ment area, as well as an aquifer protection zone. Aerial photos show the various interventions carried out with- out permission across different parts of the site, without consid- eration to its rural context. "Such fait accompli interventions have resulted in the proliferation and intensification of physical devel- opment and significant adverse impacts on the overall state of the area, largely in terms of land use," the ERA said. With surrounding fields gener- ally under cultivation, a livestock farm complex is also located op- posite the site on Triq Dwardu Ellul. The ERA says these fields' productivity were negatively im- pacted by dust dispersal from the crushing operations. Apart from the impact on agri- cultural land, the dust contributes to the degradation of air quality. "It may also impact the health and amenity of the neighbouring residential areas of Xgħajra and Ħaż-Żabbar, apart from having contributed to an increase in the volume of heavy vehicular traffic to and from the site which have also led to increase of traffic noise levels," the ERA said. Noise emissions are further ac- centuated by the stone crusher, which does not even have an en- vironmental permit to mitigate such impacts. Now the applicant has decided to propose such mitigation meas- ures and to control the dust. But the ERA insists it is not satisfied, because these impacts are the re- sult of an illegal development and operation which "circumvented both the mainstream develop- ment consent mechanism and the environmental registration process". The applicant claims to have taken action to mitigate and con- trol dust dispersal, by lowering the part of the site which con- tains the stone crusher, enclosing and roofing over the area, as well as installing a water sprinkler sys- tem, and using tarpaulin to cov- er the crushed aggregate in the trucks that leave the site. The applicant says he could en- close the stockpiles of rubble, to control dust dispersal, as well as to lay a concrete surface through- out the site. He also proposes trees and vegetation around the yard's wall to improve the visual integration of the development. How the authorities turned a blind eye The site was originally a pig farm registered in 1978. The present owner, Peter Camilleri, acquired it in 1991, restoring the farm building and partly extend- ing to make it habitable for his family. Soil on the land adjoining the farm was also removed in late 1991 when the site begun to be used as a construction yard, as the base for storage of construc- tion vehicles and equipment for Camilleri's construction busi- ness. In 1993, the PA refused permis- sion to erect a garage instead of a room. The stone crusher was installed in 1994 to recycle inert waste. Yet it was only in Decem- ber 2018 that the PA initiated enforcement action for the al- terations to the farm, the con- struction of separate structures, the crusher's installation, soil removal, and the change-of-use of farmland into a construction yard. The appeal against the enforce- ment action is pending.