The Malta Environment and Planning Authority said yesterday that all work under way on the site of the former Duke of Edinburgh Hotel is covered both by a Planning Control and Planning Development permit.

Mepa was reacting to a statement issued by Alternattiva Demokratika that claimed that access to a public garden was being blocked and a playground had been turned into a construction area.

However, Mepa said that one of the conditions stipulated in the permit is that the road had to be constructed prior to the development of the new project, at the developer?s expense.

?With this in mind, one of the gates giving access to the garden had to be blocked off due to construction works on the road and to ensure the full safety of the public making use of the garden,? Mepa said, adding that the public garden ?is still fully accessible both from the car park through a secondary gate and from the entrance in Republic Street?.

Mepa said that the authority also made sure that the developer ?provides the necessary alternatives to the clubs that used the football ground. The ground will be reinstated shortly after the construction of the road. All heavy machinery has been stopped from parking within the ground.?

The temporary demolition of the ground and the blocking of the road that links the car park to the garden are all authorized works that are covered by a permit that had been issued following a public consultation exercise, Mepa added.

The Enforcement Unit is monitoring the work, the authority added.