FAA condemns plans to demolish parts of 'old Cospicua'

Environment NGO Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar (FAA) said today that while it was heartened to note that the restoration of Fort St Angelo was picking up momentum, other heritage areas were being destroyed instead of being rehabilitated.

It said that the demolition of a whole area of old Cospicua was being planned in order to make room for a social housing project.

"What has become of the Housing Authority’s enlightened programme of some years ago to rehabilitate old buildings rather than building new stock? With over 76,000 empty units available, is it not possible to come up with other solutions rather than the wholesale destruction of a neighbourhood that is ripe for rehabilitation as a heritage area that would provide urban core housing and enhance Malta’s touristic potential as is done overseas?

The NGO said that architectural restoration using traditional Maltese building and finishing skills could be undertaken by Maltese workers who were nowadays less keen to undertake arduous reconstruction work, which was being assigned to foreign workers.

"The Housing Authority’s developer zeal has already caused the destruction of a whole row of Msida’s original old urban core houses, demolished to make way for new housing instead of being rehabilitated as a creative re-use of old housing stock. Although these houses suffered from seasonal flooding, this problem is due to be solved by the major flood relief project being undertaken, which would have made the old houses’ rehabilitation more viable," the FAA said.

"Instead, MEPA has downgraded this area from its previously protected Urban Conservation Area status and permitted the infringement of the Police Law establishing the height of buildings in relation to the width of the street. This means that the old vernacular houses that lie behind the project are to be engulfed by tall buildings a few metres away from them as happened on the opposite side of Msida Valley. Have we learnt nothing from the misguided Valletta slum clearance projects of the 1970s?"

It also regretted that tons of old stone, such a precious raw material, were being discarded instead of being recycled.

"t is all the more condemnable that the clearance being conducted by a government agency is contravening basic EU regulations on disposal of construction waste. The stonework is mixed with iron pipes and building hardware which developers are obliged to separate before dumping," FAA said.

It said that dust prevention measures set out in the Environmental Management of Construction Site regulations were also being ignored.