Ongoing Heritage Abuse
Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar (FAA) is outraged at the latest destruction of Malta’s heritage carried out by a developer at the Palazz ta’ Rohan, Main Street Balzan, where a development application that was hotly contested by Balzan residents and Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar had been refused by the MEPA Board.
FAA had reported to MEPA that trees were being uprooted and soil was being removed from the three hundred year-old palace garden. However MEPA Officials reported back saying that all the works were approved and being carried out under MEPA’s supervision.
FAA and Balzan residents are therefore very taken aback to learn that wanton destruction had in fact taken place inside this garden resulting in MEPA’s issuing an enforcement order. This brings enforcement under the spotlight yet again. All too often FAA reports abuse only to be told that initial inspections revealed no infringements. On our repeated insistence, visits by the Director of Enforcement proved that extensive abuse had in fact taken place. In other cases known abusers suspend works temporarily, only to continue the destruction as soon as MEPA officials leave. Only ongoing inspection by MEPA and stiff fines will stamp out such abuse.
Large urban gardens belonging to old ‘palazzi’ have become the latest targets of developers. MEPA continues to issue development permits in Protected Green Enclaves as it did at the Palazzo Giannin and Palazz tas-Sinjura in Ghaxaq. Why have these old palaces not been protected by scheduling in spite of our calls for such protection months ago?
In the case of the garden of the Casa del Gioco in Balzan, the Emergency Conservation Order which the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage requested in August 2011 was only published days after the MEPA session when the case was to be decided in December 2011. To date that Emergency Conservation Order has not been followed up by scheduling protection which would finally decide the case. Other old Balzan gardens are similarly threatened.
Although gardens were protected by the Local Plans in each of Malta’s towns and villages, not a single old garden in Sliema and St Julian’s has been protected as a green enclave. One cannot help wondering whether this was intended to facilitate their eventual development. Pressure from the Sliema Residents Association and FAA resulted in the scheduling of only half of Villa Bonici’s historic garden. Other large old Urban Conservation Area gardens such as the those at The Palms, at Triq Sant’ Anglu and Triq Sant Elija remain unprotected, which can only be interpreted as an invitation to developers to fill them up with yet more unsellable flats.
MEPA similarly failed to protect known archaeological sites in Rabat and Zebbiegh. In the Zebbiegh case a permit was granted touching another site where a previous development application had been blocked by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage because of its archaeological remains.
It is obvious that in spite of MEPA Reform, MEPA is still suffering from shortcoming in staffing and ethics which are helping to mask developers’ abuse, especially since MEPA fails to give feedback on reports of abuse, fails to follow up known abusers and fails with the timely scheduling of heritage sites and green enclaves. Although drafted by MEPA 14 months ago, the legal notice imposing stiffer fines is not yet enforceable, thus encouraging developers to take the risk and continue abusing.
MEPA and our legislators have the duty and the obligation to protect Malta’s heritage and natural environment for the benefit of Maltese citizens as well as for the future of tourism and therefore for Malta’s economic well-being. The Maltese citizen expects nothing less than the total commitment of MEPA and Parliament to ensure such protection.
