Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/219723
11 News maltatoday, SUNDAY, 1 DECEMBER 2013 our's balancing act refusal, the expansion was carried out illegally. So in 2001, MEPA was asked to sanction the fait accompli with a €460,000 fine, a case causing wide embarrassment within MEPA itself, and creating a strong rift between the MEPA board and its own planning experts. The only setback for Polidano in the late 1990s was the rejection of a proposal to build a cement plant in Siggiewi, following a campaign spearheaded by Nationalist mayor Nenu Aquilina and the political backing of backbencher Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando. 2006 was marked Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi inaugurating the new Poligas Plant in Hal Farrug on New Year's Day. MEPA had ap- proved the plant, which produces the highly flammable acetylene gas, back in 2005 in the absence of an EIA (environmental impact assessment) despite being 200 metres away from a fireworks factory. While an EIA had been conducted on the relocation of the Multigas plant in Kirkop, no such assessment was ever carried out for Polidano's Poligas despite its proximity to a fireworks factory. In the same year, Polidano also regularised his Hal Farrug complex, despite numerous enforcement orders due to the sprawl of unauthorized development. His EIA simply dismissed this as a natural consequence to "the 1990s' construction boom when contractors were compelled to grow at relatively fast rates in order to be in a position to compete for tenders for large-scale projects." The 1990s were a veritable golden age for Polidano Group, which saw a tenfold increase in turnover from 1989 to 2003, increasing from Lm4 million (€10 million) for the three-year period between 1989 and 1991 to just under Lm40 million (€98 million) between 2001 and 2003. Also in 2005, Polidano applied on outside development zones (ODZ) to construct Lidl chain supermarkets in Luqa, Safi and Zebbug. The Zebbug supermarket was ultimately rejected but caused scandal after MEPA deputy chairperson Catherine Galea presented the application in her capacity as a private architect. The Luqa application failed to pass the test of the MEPA auditor's scrutiny, due to flight-path safety restrictions because it was to be located within 250 metres of an airport runway. The permit was approved despite a previous refusal for a car-hire firm to build a garage in the same public safety zone. In 2008, when the MEPA auditor's report that found the permit for the Safi supermarket had been issued irregularly, ended up being published by Alternattiva Demokratika during the elections, the entire MEPA development control commission that had approved the permit resigned en masse. After years of collusion with Polidano, the newly-elected Nationalist administration seemed less inclined to accommodate him. In fact, permits for a Lidl supermarket in Zabbar and a residential development in Balzan were turned down by MEPA. In September 2008, the Nationalist-led Siggiewi council moved a motion threatening to enact a byelaw prohibiting trucks carrying stone from passing through Għar Lapsi Road, which led to Polidano's largest hardstone quarry. And the 2009 European elections also saw the PN fielding environmentalist Alan Deidun, who launched his campaign with a press conference right next to Polidano's Lapsi quarry. Back to blue? The decision by MEPA in September 2012 to take direct action suggested that after decades of omnipotence, Charles Polidano had fallen from political grace. As is the case with Labour's present enforcement action, it is highly probable that the clampdown required some form of po- litical clearance. Once a frequent target of the Labour media during Alfred Sant's tenure, Polidano seemed to have lost his bête noire status after Joseph Muscat was elected leader. The new leader even chose to have his 2008 inauguration party at Polidano's Montekristo wine estate. And in March 2010, Labour MP and planning spokesperson Roderick Galdes became the only MEPA board member to vote in favour of Polidano's 40-apartment block and underground car park, in place of a historical townhouse and garden in Balzan's village core. But in a clear reversal of roles, it is now the Nationalist Party that might as well reach out to Charles Polidano. The sudden appearance of the normally reclusive Charles Polidano on NET TV raises questions on the Nationalist Party's stance on this issue. Will the PN try to exploit Polidano's blackmail, or will it back the government in confronting this rampant abuse, irrespective of the action's suspicious timing?