Sliema baroque house update

The Times readers who have avidly followed the saga of the planned demolition of Sliema's oldest house deserve an update.

Following the last hearing of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, when we heard 20 minutes of reports from Mepa's Heritage Management board and the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage as to why the house should be preserved, a vote was called and the DCC board immediately voted to demolish.

We then made our enquiries and were told we had 30 days in which to appeal this decision. Any logical person would reason that nothing can be done until expiration of this appeals period. At no point were we told that the developer had the right to demolish even with the 30 days, once he receives his works permit. This permit usually takes about six weeks to be issued, sometimes more, therefore safely after the appeals process would take over. In this case the works permit was "miraculously" issued after just 10 days, giving the developer a full 20 days in which to demolish a house that dates back almost 300 years, before the appeals process can halt the demolition.

The Mepa regulation covering this clause is the biggest mockery of them all: "Any development which is carried out when such an appeal has been made, or until the time limit for the submission of such an appeal has expired, is undertaken at the risk that this permission may be revoked by the Planning Appeals Board."

I ask Mepa to inform The Times readers how the board can "revoke" the demolition of Sliema's oldest house once it is done; how it can "revoke" the inevitable demolition of other houses which will follow in this ancient and currently intact street. This is tantamount to executing a criminal before his appeal has started, then saying one can bring him back from the dead once he wins his appeal. Normally in such cases, financial compensation is sought. What amount of money can compensate for the loss of our heritage? Why was no attempt made to plug these loopholes years ago? Is it because the only ones who can do so, our politicians, were happy to leave them there?

The Superintendence is ready to testify that the house indeed dates back to the 18th century. Why has the government not issued an Emergency Conservation Order on a development that has provoked such an outcry from all heritage sources? Why is it that the only support we have received from within government circles has had to come from Jeffery Pullicino Orlando, MP for Zebbug?

And finally, why are the people speaking up and not the Minister for Culture? His silence on this issue speaks volumes.