Mepa put developer above heritage - internal audit

A damning internal audit report accusing the Malta Environment and Planning Authority of prioritising the needs of a developer over the need to preserve the national heritage was made public by Alternattiva Demokratika yesterday.

The report heavily criticises the go-ahead given to the excavation of a plot in Hamrun under which there is a wartime shelter.

Drawn up by one of Mepa's own audit officers, it also criticises the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage for what was described as: "A seeming reluctance to use his extensive powers under the Heritage Act, to stop or modify a proposed development.

"He seems to prefer that Mepa acts on his behalf. While Mepa has a clear duty to preserve our heritage, it is important that the cooperation of all relevant authorities is forthcoming," the report says.

"This is a case of an application where the Authority (Planning Directorate and DCC) do their utmost to accommodate the applicant and gave only marginal importance to the heritage aspect of this application," the report reiterates.

The Times has been following this story since last August. A determined couple, who live next door to the site, Doreen Galea Vincenti Zarb and her husband Sergio approached the newspaper to voice their dismay at the fact that the Development Control Commission had given the green light to the development, despite the fact that it had been consistently refused by the authority for three years.

Alternattiva Demokratika requested an audit into the whole matter and the report was made public yesterday by the party's chairman Harry Vassallo and spokesman for the environment Mark Causon.

Dr Galea Vincenti Zarb said yesterday the incident was an example of how in spite of the setting up of a regulatory body and changes in law, matters largely remained the same in terms of protecting cultural heritage. While developers complain of unnecessary expenses and bureaucracy, those who wish to preserve national heritage kept being cheated by a useless system, she charged.

The couple, who live next door, immediately registered its objection as soon as a permit for excavation was requested from Mepa because, among other things, the area is honeycombed with both public and private World War II air-raid shelters.

The couple has in hand original plans of these shelters, which had been drawn up during the war. They were also very concerned that the proposed development would threaten the underground water reservoirs, which form part of the Wignacourt Aqueduct.

The objections were taken into consideration by Mepa and the permit was refused on October 29, 2002. However, the developer went ahead and started excavations irrespective of the decision, exposing the wartime shelter that had been sealed for years. Mepa immediately issued an enforcement notice.

All this eventually changed when the DCC overturned the original decision because, among other things, the existing features of the wartime shelter were being included in the proposed basement.

World War II shelters are considered historic monuments and are protected under the Cultural Heritage Act of 2002. These have to be protected from any damage, even in cases of development of public and private land.