Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar deplores yesterday’s decision by MEPA to allow ADT incorporate Polidano Brothers’ plans for garages into the reconstructed St. Paul’s Bay bypass, just in case Polidano Brothers are granted a permit for such works. This is taking place in spite of the fact that Polidano Brothers’ unauthorised building activity in the area had caused the collapse of part of the hillside and the St. Paul’s Bay bypass almost a decade ago, very nearly swallowing a neighbour’s residence which subsequently had to be demolished.

A “cooperative” approach between authority and contractor, whilst otherwise commendable, is being strongly criticised by FAA in the light of Polidano Brothers’ track record of repeated development infringements; the most recent of which led to the forced resignation of the MEPA board due to the approval of an application to build a supermarket in an Out of Development Zone (ODZ).

In the St. Paul’s Bay development , the whole Local Plan was changed in 2006 in order to accommodate Polidano’s plans, changing this area’s ODZ designation into one allowing development, a fact that the residents nearby are challenging. Ever since 2000, Polidano’s abusive activity on this site has been the cause of several enforcement notices issued by MEPA, all of which have been ignored.

FAA , in principle, also questions the new practice of approving private development beneath and within public road foundations, which has already caused much trouble in another highly controversial case FAA was involved in, between Ta’ Paris and Valley Road where another developer with a notorious track record took over half the width of the public road.

The St. Paul’s Bay Bypass is one of the main thoroughfares linking the North to the rest of the island. For nine years the public has been denied its full use and thousands of hours have been lost to traffic jams and deviations due to MEPA’s lack of assertive action in handling these transgressors. Yesterday’s report of this latest ‘cooperation’ benefitting Polidano Brothers is the last straw for an exasperated public.

Photo: Aerial view of Xemxija Bypass