Illegal Siġġiewi ‘dust factory’ partially built on agricultural land

New documents seen by The Shift show that an illegal waste dumping site in Siġġiewi, described by the local council as “a dust factory”, was partially built on registered agricultural land, raising even more questions about why the site’s operators have been allowed to operate with impunity for decades.

The site in question, which is owned and managed by excavation contractors C & J Bonavia Ltd, has undergone a complete transformation since the contractors illegally converted a disused quarry into the primary site for their dumping operations.

Prior to its conversion into an illegal dumping site, court filings shared with The Shift show that part of the area now occupied by C & J Bonavia was formally registered as agricultural land with the Agriculture and Rural Payments Agency (ARPA).

The finding is significant because ARPA had verified that the land was previously used for genuine agricultural purposes before being converted into a dumping site, even issuing a few hundred euros in funding intended to support farmers working small plots of land.

In November of last year, the Planning Authority (PA) approved the contractors’ request to sanction the site’s illegalities and request permission to “recycle construction and demolition waste for a period of 25 years”, a decision subject to an ongoing appeal filed by Siġġiewi’s local council.

That application was approved after two previous, almost identical applications were withdrawn by C & J Bonavia before they were even recommended for approval or refusal by one of the PA’s case officers.

In a lengthy appeal against the approved sanctioning application, the local council raised several objections.

It argued that the approval was based on the “arbitrary” application of policies meant to serve as guidelines for the rehabilitation of disused quarries, but were instead used to enable industrial activity.

“A correct reading of these policies would have led to the conclusion that, in these circumstances, this (activity) can only be considered backfilling on a strictly restorative basis, as part of a defined plan for rehabilitation, and not a concession for industrial activity by allowing recycling and stockpiling over 25 years,” the council said in its appeal.

While that appeal is being heard before the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal (EPRT), illegal industrial activity on the site, located just off Triq l-Imqabba, continues unabated – to the detriment of the locality’s residents.

Residents have spent years complaining about the cumulative impact of this unregulated activity so close to their homes, yet authorities have failed to take any serious action beyond issuing enforcement notices and daily fines, which remain unpaid.

C & J Bonavia Ltd is owned by Christopher and Jason Bonavia. Questions sent went unanswered.