2 comments so far.Gozo court fines San Lawrenz quarry owner €100,000
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Quarry owner, Joseph Attard, was fined €100,000 today in the Gozo Court, after being found guilty of illegally developing outside the boundaries of his quarry, Ta’ Ghansar, in Wied il-Merill, San Lawrenz,. Mr Attard was also found guilty of excavating an illegal new quarry adjacent to the existing licensed quarry.
Magistrate Giovanni Grixti ordered that should Mr Attard not return the sites back to their original state within three months he would be liable to a further fine of €60 per day.
MEPA had issued two enforcement notices on this site prior to making a formal complaint with the police for them to initiate court proceedings against the contravenor.
Well done to the Gozo Courts and Mr. Grixti for fining this quarry owner. It is about time that environmental illegalities were recognised as the crimes that they are. The fine is certainly not heavy enough, but it is better than nothing.
Unfortunately, no amount of money will ever be able to restore the area to its original state, which is very sad indeed.
The courts should now start looking at crimes being carried out in other parts of the island, e.g. Ta Muxi in Qala, the construction dumps near Mgarr Xi-Xini, the rubbish lying about around the Ghan Abdul spring near St. Lucia – to name a few!
So much for ECO Gozo – a dream without a future if left to the present authorities!
God created the Island of Gozo in diferent parts, some part of the Island is good to cut stones, other land for agricultural, garigu fawna and mountains full of Spring watercorses, one of this mountains is at Nadur on the way to Ramla Bay, but unfortunately this mountain has been constructed for a New Cemetery . With a broken heart I have to say that this Cemetery is like an GHARBIEL and in the future deteroration will pass with watercorses to agrecultural land.