Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar, Friends of the Earth and Ramblers Association have said that they welcome the landmark Court of Justice decision whereby Judge Anthony Ellul concluded that the Armier boathouses were built illegally, that the occupants have no title to the land and ordered the Commissioner of Land to evict the occupants.

This, said the NGOs, “comes after devious and illegal arrangements and promises made by political parties over these last twenty years, generally at election time, and the area has been occupied illegally for years depriving law-abiding citizens access to this public land.”

This is a landmark decision the NGOs reiterated and one which will ensure that public land remains public. Nobody is above the law the NGOs added and “those who ride roughshod over the law can no longer avail themselves of pre-election promises by any party, which only serve to encourage the creation of other lobbies’ for illegalities.”

It is ironic, the NGOs said, that “just when the courts ruled that these constructions are declared illegal and that the supply with water and electricity was deemed questionable, the Prime Minister issued a vague statement stating that: “he would wait for advice on this morning’s ruling before taking any action.”

The NGOs asked “Is Government now going to find or create a loophole to make these squatters legal, or is it going to allow Justice to take its course without fear or favour?”

“The illegal occupation of this land for so many years does not in any way give the occupants title to stay on for ever – they have had the enjoyment of this land for so many years at the expense of others and justice demands that it is now time that government constrains the squatters to leave and give back to the people what is rightfully theirs.”

The NGOs added that they “respectfully remind the Prime Minister that before the March 2013 election, when informed of what the PN had promised the Armier squatters, Dr Muscat had said he would not commit himself to any promises before he had studied the situation.”

“The situation” has now been studied in Judge Anthony Ellul’s judgement. Now it is time to take action, the NGOs concluded.

Permalink: Armier – Give back to the people what is rightfully theirs