The Manoel Island excavation permit has been approved in spite of the fact that the development permit itself is being challenged at appeal by Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar (FAA) and Gzira residents.
Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar argued that by approving the excavation, the Planning Commission would be making out that the outcome of the appeal is a foregone conclusion, making a travesty of the whole appeal process. What if the developers are made to alter their development plans after the site has been excavated?
FAA emphasised the importance of the Roman remains found in the area to be excavated and the high probability of other Roman remains in the area.
In spite of all this, the Planning Commission immediately voted unanimously in favour of the excavation permit before the planning appeal is concluded.
Until a few years ago, MEPA would never process a stand-alone permit for demolition or excavation that was not accompanied by a construction application, for fear that it would result in a hole in the ground as did the Gzira Metropolis project. Yet today, the Planning Authority is recommending for approval an excavation application for the MIDI project at Manoel Island while the very development is being challenged at appeal. Thus the Planning Authority is giving the message that the appeal process is nothing but a worthless sham, as it knows that the appeal will be rejected.
The Superintendent’s call for an underwater evaluation to assess the seabed archaeology has been ignored, while archaeologists have also warned that Roman remains dating back two millenia, possibly the oldest human remains in the area, face destruction if the Manoel Island project goes through as planned. The submerged rectangular structures in the rocks on the island dating back to the Roman period would be destroyed by the plans to build a new bridge from the Gzira promenade to Manoel Island which includes a three-metre extension into the seabed in the area of the Roman remains.
A study on the site was conducted in 2013 by Stefano Forlani, but for some reason the paper was not included in the Planning Authority assessment of the permit in spite of the fact that one of the authors was Dr Timothy Gambin, the marine archaeologist who is a member of the PA Board, supposedly representing heritage.
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