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Activists End Five-Day ‘Siege’ Of Planning Authority As Minister Pledges Imminent Fuel Station Action

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After five days, Moviment Graffitti’s protest camp outside the Planning Authority has come to an end.

The activists had been camping outside the PA’s Floriana headquarters since Thursday morning in protest at a policy which permits the construction of fuel stations in land outside developable zones.

“These five days of direct action have been a truly encouraging experience for us since we have seen so many people expressing, in different ways, their outrage at the PA’s failure to change the fuel stations policy and at the authorities’ approach to our environment more generally,” Graffitti said.

“Whilst the revision of this policy is long overdue, we are also satisfied that public pressure has forced the authorities to give a deadline – this month – for the publication of the revised policy.”

In comments to Lovin Malta, Infrastructure Minister Ian Borg reiterated his pledge to publish a revised fuel station policy by the end of April.

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However, Graffitti intends to keep the pressure up and have launched an online timer which counts the days, minutes and seconds since Environment Minister Jose Herrera pledged to revise the policy back in January 2018.

“Should the authorities fail to publish the revised policy this month, or if the revised policy still allows ODZ fuel stations, Moviment Graffitti is ready to carry out further direct actions,” the activist group said.

The controversial policy allows the relocation of current fuel stations to land outside development zones as well as the construction of entirely new fuel stations on ODZ land.

In January 2018, Environment Minister José Herrera said concerns about the policy’s environmental impact had prompted him to instruct the Environment Authority (ERA) to propose revisions to the PA. In a recent meeting with activists, Borg and Herrera pledged that the revised policy would satisfy many of their demands.

READ NEXT: Party At The Planning Authority: Protestors End Weekend Camp With A Bang

Tim is interested in the rapid evolution of human society and is passionate about justice, human rights and cutting-edge political debates. You can follow him on Instagram or Twitter/X at @timdiacono or reach out to him at [email protected]

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