Moviment Graffitti Break Down Timeline Of Joseph Portelli’s Qala Pools
Maltese activist group Moviment Graffitti published a video detailing the timeline of Joseph Portelli’s “abusive” Qala construction.
“The footage shows the environmental destruction that has marred Qala. The permit (PA/08143/21) for enormous pools in the Qala ODZ was declared illegal by the courts last March, but because of the way that the appeals law currently works, the works were commenced and completed while the appeals process was still ongoing,” the NGO said in a statement.
“The story of Qala shows the endless abuses that exist in a planning sector ruled by developers. When, in 2021, it was reported that developer Joseph Portelli and his associates had begun digging two enormous pools without permits in Qala’s ODZ, Moviment Graffitti immediately reported the illegality to the Planning Authority.”
“Despite this, the illegal works, as can be seen in the video, continued with absolute impunity. Joseph Portelli even publically admitted that while it was true that there was no permit for the works, he claimed to have done nothing wrong as he was sure he would be eventually granted the aforementioned permits.”
The two pools are being built in an outside development zone (ODZ) and they’re the size of approximately three football pitches, the NGO said.
Around three months ago, the court revoked the permit for the swimming pools following an appeal filed by Moviment Graffitti together with the Qala Local Council.
Portelli had begun work on these pools despite not having a permit because he was certain that the application would be approved.
“Despite this, because of a defective law that permits illegal buildings to begin and reach completion during the appeals stage, these pools were already built. The same applies to a large part of the enormous building that buried Qala, exactly next to these pools. The Planning Tribunal (EPRT) revoked the permit (PA/09606/19) for 63 apartments across four storeys, but these too had already been built in the meantime.”
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