At a press conference held at Mdina Gate this morning, Flimkien għal Ambjent Ahjar (FAA) spokesperson Astrid Vella expressed the NGO’s concern at the excavation works being carried out to take a part of Howard Gardens in order to create a karrozzin stand. Astrid Vella argued that the site is a scheduled zone, rich in archaeology, and therefore this application should have gone through the full planning process.
Perit Carmel Cacopardo, Deputy Chairman of Alternattiva Demokratika explained “The issue is that when MEPA accepted that the Development Notification Order (DNO) process is used instead of the normal, full application process, the result is that no public consultation is carried out, thereby bypassing a core function of the planning process. This has deprived Mdina and Rabat residents as well as NGOs of the opportunity to participate in the decision-making process. In addition, when viewed together with the fact that the electronic information on the case was mysteriously absent from the MEPA website, one inevitably concludes that the process was wilfully sabotaged.”
The FAA spokesperson added that this violates the EU Directive on public participation, as well as violating the DNO law itself: “this article shall not authorize any works …which could foreseeably cause direct or indirect damage to archaeological features or entails the destruction, uprooting or damage to existing trees.” FAA maintained that there is no way that MEPA would not be aware that the site is a scheduled area rich in archaeology, not to mention the destruction of a scheduled Aleppo pine tree.
MEPA has since indicated that the Mdina Local Council’s application only involved the erection of a temporary tent for horse cabs, without the need for excavations, when in actual fact the excavations are being carried out in order to install a gutter and water and drainage system. FAA maintains that this proves how public consultation is essential on a sensitive site where MEPA failed provide the necessary monitoring, in spite of the fact that the excavator has cleared material more than half a metre below the surface.
Prominent environmentalist Alfred E Baldacchino expressed his outrage at the permits that MEPA is granting and the fact that it is failing to take action on other damage to heritage in the Rabat area, pointing to the supposed rock garden laid by French schoolchildren without any heritage approval; Years later, remedial has still not been taken. More worryingly, using excavators to create a carpark in the ‘fuq it-Tomba’ area has caused untold damage to the environment there and further imperilled the state of the ancient ‘Ghajn Hammem’ which lies beneath. Howard Gardens are further threatened by an application to usurp more of the garden for a tourist coach carpark at the Roman Villa side of Howard Gardens.
In conclusion Alfred Baldacchino declared “Mepa is the worst enemy of society and the environment”.
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