In an open letter to PN leader Lawrence Gonzi from BirdLife’s Executive Director Steve Micklewright, Birdlife expressed concern over the PN’s proposal to sanction building irregularities as it could legitimise the illegal occupation of public land.

Steve Micklewright called upon the Nationalist Party to clarify the vague language used in its proposal, emphasising that it does not want to legalise the “numerous breezeblock construction hunting and trapping hides that have sprung up all over the Maltese countryside in the last 30 years”.

BirdLife’s Executive Director asked if the sanction would apply to illegal developments in ODZ areas and if all illegal buildings would be able to apply for amnesty from their forced removal. BirdLife’s executive demanded the PN to clarify the part of the statement which reads; “it will not cover those illegalities which are an ‘environmental blemish’”.