The courts in Gozo have upheld an application filed by twelve Nadur farmers and have provisionally prohibited the Archpriest of Nadur from continuing with the development of the new cemetery. The farmers had asked the court to prohibit Fr Muscat from proceeding with the proposed development of agricultural land in Nadur, which included the construction of the cemetery.

The farmers said that there was already a cemetery in Nadur, but the parish had decided to construct a new one rather than extend the existing one. The farmers pointed out that they irrigated their fields in the vicinity of the land on which the cemetery was to be constructed and that without this water, their crops could not be irrigated. They also said that if the land was developed into a cemetery, the chemicals from the buried bodies would infiltrate the rain water and poison all the surrounding land and as a result, the farmers would suffer enormous damages.

Magistrate Ellul upheld the farmers application on a provisional basis and authorised Fr Muscat to file a reply within five days.

The court also appointed architect Godwin Abela to submit a written report, by not later than the 30th of August, on the farmers’ submissions. Mr Abela was instructed to investigate all the technical aspects raised by the farmers and also those which might be raised by Fr Muscat.

The court gave authorisation for Mr Abela to obtain all the information he might require from the Malta Resources Authority and the Malta Environment and Planning Authority.