26 September 2007 Rating 15% No Comment  

The Gozo court has refused an application filed by twelve Nadur farmers to stop the development of a new cemetery at Nadur, thus revoking a previous provisional decision made by the court in August. The farmers had requested that the court prohibit the Archpriest of Nadur from proceeding with the proposed development of agricultural land at Ghajn Qasab, Nadur, which included the construction of a new cemetery. The farmers said that if a cemetery was built on the land, the chemicals from the buried bodies would infiltrate the rain water and poison the water that they used to irrigate their crops, thus causing them enormous damage. An expert appointed by the court, Godwin Abela, submitted a report in which he stated that in his opinion, "the construction of the cemetery will not have any detrimental or negative effect on the quality or quantity of spring water that is used by the farmers." In his report Mr Abela said that he had taken into consideration that the Malta Resources Authority (MRA) did not object to the project because there was not going to be any negative impact on the spring water. Furthermore, he noted that the Malta Environment and Planning Authority permit also included measures, issued by the MRA, that have to be followed by the developer to eliminate any form of contamination. Magistrate Ellul noted in his decree, that the court-appointed expert Godwin Abela had testified that the construction of the cemetery would not have a detrimental effect on the quantity and quality of the water used by the farmers for their crops. After evaluating all the facts, the court noted that a warrant of prohibitory injunction ought only to be issued if the farmers were being wronged and if the warrant was necessary to safeguard their rights. The Magistrate ruled that this did not apply in this case and turned down the farmers application.