FERTILE SOIL (PRESERVATION) ACT

FERTILE SOIL (PRESERVATION)

CHAPTER 236

FERTILE SOIL (PRESERVATION) ACT

To provide for the Preservation of Fertile Soil.

(1st August, 1973) *

ACT XXIX of 1973, as amended by Act XIII of 1983; Legal Notice 411 of

2007; and Act XXVI of 2014.

The short title of this Act is the Fertile Soil (Preservation)

Act.

In this Act, unless the contrary otherwise appears -

"agriculture" means

the

cultivation

of

agricultural

and

horticultural crops;

"building" means any house, room, farmhouse, store, or any

other structure, or any part thereof, and includes any road or street,

yard, court, playingfield or any other enclosed space not devoted to

agriculture;

"Director" means the Director of Agriculture and any officer of

the Department of Agriculture, deputed by him;

"fertile soil" means soil which, in the opinion of the Director, is

suitable or could be made suitable for purposes of agriculture;

"inspector" means any public officer designated by the Minister

responsible for agriculture, whether generally or specially, and

whether in the Department of Agriculture or not, to examine any

fertile soil, or to perform any such duties as are in connection with

this Act;

"owner" means any person on whose behalf or in whose interest

any building is being or is going to be erected, and includes, in the

case of a person absent from Malta or any person who is a minor or

legally incapacitated, the legal representatives of such person;

"person" includes an association or a body of persons.

(1)

No person may -

(a) transport fertile soil to any site for any purpose

whatsoever in quantities larger than one half cubic

metre on every single occasion, without having

previously obtained the written permission of the

Director;

(b) render unsuitable for agriculture any fertile soil by

mixing it with stones or by any other means;

(c) cover fertile soil with any layer of concrete, stones,

stone slabs, or any other similar material, unless it is

considered as necessary for or in connection with

agriculture by the Director or by the inspector;

*See subarticle (2) of article 1 of the Act as originally enacted, which has been omitted

under the Statute Law Revision Act, 1980.

FERTILE SOIL (PRESERVATION)

(d) deposit on fertile soil, or leave on fertile soil after a

written notice for its removal has been given by the

Director, any object or objects having an area larger

than two square metres for a period longer than thirty

days; or

(e) deposit, or leave deposited, any fertile soil in such

manner as the Director will have notified in writing to

such person as being unsuitable to be used for

agriculture.

(2) Any notice required to be given under subarticle (1)(d) and

(e) shall be complied with within thirty days from the date of

notification by registered post.

No person may erect, or cause or permit or allow to be

erected, any building, or any part of a foundation for any building,

before having given a forty-eight hours notice in writing on the

prescribed form by registered post to the Director, and before he

has removed at his own expense all the fertile soil existing on the

site over which the building is going to extend, to any land

belonging to him or to any other site indicated by the Director, and,

in either case, the soil is deposited in such manner as approved by

the said Director, which approval has to be given within ten

working days.

(1) The notice referred to in article 4 shall be deemed to be

null and void if -

(a) it is not accompanied by a site plan indicating clearly

the site in question; or

(b) it is not completely filled; or

(c) it contains incorrect information; or

(d) it is not signed by the owner or by the architect in

charge of the works.

(2) When the fertile soil which is to be removed according to the

provisions of article 4 has not been removed by the lapse of six

months from the date of the notice, a new notice will have to be

given.

It shall be lawful for the Director or for any inspector to

enter upon any land on which any building is in the course of

construction, or on which any building is going to be constructed,

in order to ascertain that the provisions of this Act are being or

have been complied with.

No person may obstruct, resist or hinder the Director or any

inspector in the lawful exercise of his powers or duties under this

Act.

The Minister responsible for agriculture may make

regulations for carrying into effect the provisions of this Act.

Any person who acts in contravention of, or who makes

default in complying with, the provisions of this Act or of any

regulations made thereunder, or who assists any other person in so

FERTILE SOIL (PRESERVATION)

doing, shall be guilty of an offence, and shall be liable, on

conviction, to a fine (multa) of not less than forty-six euro and

fifty-nine cents (46.59) but not exceeding one thousand and one

hundred and sixty-four euro and sixty-nine cents (1,164.69) in the

case of a first offence under this article, and, in the case of a second

or subsequent offence, to a fine (multa) of not less than four

hundred and sixty-five euro and eighty-seven cents (465.87) but not

exceeding one thousand and one hundred and sixty-four euro and

sixty-nine cents (1,164.69).

Where an offence is committed by an association or body of

persons, every person who, at the time of the commission of the

offence, was a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer

of such association or body of persons, or was purporting to act in

any such capacity, shall be guilty of that offence unless he proves

that the offence was committed without his knowledge and that he

exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of the

offence.