The NGO’s Din l-Art Helwa and Gaia Foundation have again questioned MEPA’s decision to issue a permit to redevelop ‘Ulysses Lodge’ in Ramla Bay on the requested footprint. The MEPA Board have granted a permit for the construction of 23 self-catering units, garages and swimming pools on 8,000 sqm of land on and around the existing complex.

The NGO’s stated that the permit granted to ‘Ulysses Lodge’ in 1973 only allowed a development of around 2,600 sqm. The terraced carparks and storage areas surrounding the Lodge, together with the built up road leading to these car parks and storage areas, which together comprise around 2,300 sqm, do not appear to be covered by a permit, nor were they ever regularised. Without a permit, these constructions, which MEPA is describing as ‘disturbed land’, are illegal.

The NGO’s stated that the existing planning laws do not allow the redevelopment of illegal construction outside the development zone. Illegal developments which are not sanctioned should be demolished and the site reinstated. In view of this, the ‘Ulysses Lodge’ permit should be revoked as it should never have been granted in the first place.