New warning over Joseph Portelli’s illegal concrete plant stops short of shutdown

The Planning Authority has issued another enforcement warning against an illegal concrete batching plant in Gozo tied to developer Joseph Portelli, yet the facility has continued to operate and supply material to major public projects with apparent impunity.

In recent weeks, the PA imposed a new daily fine on Portelli and his business partner, Mark Agius, known locally as Ta’ Dirjanu, over the ongoing use of an illegal concrete plant in Kerċem.

The facility , operating in the open since 2019 without planning permission, was found to be supplying concrete to the €9 million ongoing reconstruction of the arterial road between Rabat and Marsalforn, one of Gozo’s largest publicly funded infrastructure projects.

The enforcement notice, EC 158/25, accuses Portelli and Agius’s company, Prax Ltd, of illegally occupying a government-owned quarry and using it to produce prefabricated concrete elements for the Marsalforn project. In response, the developers were fined €50 per day – an amount critics define as symbolic when compared with the scale of the operation and potential revenues generated from supplying the material.

The warning follows The Shift’s publication of photographic evidence showing Prax-branded trucks delivering concrete from the Kerċem plant to the roadworks, in apparent breach of public procurement regulations that mandate the use of authorised suppliers.

In the wake of those revelations, the Gozo Ministry reportedly referred the matter to the relevant authorities, with the project architect, William Lewis, a senior Labour Party official, confirming that a formal report had been filed and steps taken to draw the contractor’s attention to contractual and legal obligations.

Significantly, despite clear evidence of ongoing breaches, the Planning Authority has not invoked its powers to seal off the illegal site, as provided under Maltese law. Nor has the Gozo Ministry sought to terminate the €9 million roadworks contract – an option available under public procurement rules when unlawful materials are used in public construction.

The Kerċem plant’s longevity – operating illegally on public land for more than five years – has become emblematic of wider concerns about the proximity between rogue developers and the Labour administration.

Portelli organised a fundraising dinner for Labour Leader Robert Abela before the last elections.

The quarry itself, abused by Portelli and Agius, supposedly remains under the control of the Lands Authority, which has yet to initiate legal action to reclaim the quarry, drawing further criticism about the government’s lack of initiative to uphold the rule of law.