Two environmental NGOs and one resident group staged a press conference in front of the cultural heritage watchdog’s offices earlier today, accusing the authority of turning a blind eye to several abuses over the past two years.
“We have seen a significant change in the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage’s (SCH) approach, ignoring its remit, and instead giving the green light to developers destroying Malta’s precious and unique heritage. This has reached an unacceptable level,” a press release sent by Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar’s (FAA) coordinator, Astrid Vella, reads.
FAA, which organised the press conference in conjunction with fellow heritage NGO Din L-Art Ħelwa (DLĦ) and a Valletta-based group known as Residenti Beltin, referred to multiple instances in which the SCH failed to intervene to protect cultural heritage.
Carmen Bajada, from Xagħra Gozo, explained how temples in an area known as Santa Verna, an archaeological site with remains dating back over 7,000 years, are currently under threat from major development applications which would be built a few metres away from the ancient temples if approved.
FAA insists that human remains have been discovered on site, in spite of the SCH’s original claims that no such remains were found. The SCH had later confirmed FAA’s information, leading it to reverse its previous claims.
In spite of the site’s obvious architectural value, the SCH nonetheless failed to object to any of the development proposals surrounding the Santa Verna site.
A well known Gozitan photographer and activist, Daniel Cilia, emphasised how the SCH refused to provide further documentation about the subject and that activists “end up doing the SCH’s work instead of it.”
Billy McBee, a representative of Residenti Beltin, spoke about the loss of identity that Malta’s capital city faces at the hands of reluctant authorities like the SCH, pointing out that the authority’s failure to object wherever necessary means Valletta is bereft of the UNESCO World Heritage status protection that it deserves.
“Valletta’s skyline, which once was an iconic symbol of the city’s unique beauty, is now under threat from an increase in building heights, cranes, and other structures…today, this title is being used solely to mark extreme commercialism and touristic promotion, and this is a betrayal of what UNESCO sought to achieve with Valletta’s status,” McBee added.
Din L-Art Ħelwa’s president, Patrick Calleja, explained how the SCH had failed to live up to its mandate by failing to protect the British Barracks in Fort Chambray, another part of Malta’s cultural heritage which stands to be engulfed by further development.
In fact, citing minutes from a Planning Authority (PA) meeting about development in Fort Chambray, Calleja noted how the SCH’s own Advisory Committee had explicitly stated that those barracks should have been preserved.
Another case that was cited by the activists involved in today’s press conference involves a 130 year old farmhouse in Triq il-Buskett, Rabat.
Much like the temples in Santa Verna, in spite of the additional protections afforded to the farmhouse due to its high level of archaeological importance, the SCH failed to adequately intervene and ensure excavation works were carried out via a method statement that takes these historical remains into account.
After explaining how the site in question has now been demolished to make way for new developments in spite of the numerous discoveries made on site, FAA’s coordinator did not mince her words when drawing her conclusions about the SCH’s conduct, stating that “our identity is being destroyed by the people who are supposed to protect it.”
On Sunday, The Shift reported how the SCH has categorically refused to respond to questions about a massive development in Xemxija in which cart ruts were reportedly discovered.
