Mepa and the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage have ordered the Grand Harbour Regeneration Corporation to conduct a number of studies including a condition report and an archaeological investigation into the basement of Casa Lanfreducci, the Infrastructure Ministry announced this afternoon.

In the meantime, the skeletal remains found bundled in boxes and abandoned on the site will be investigated and given a proper burial.

The ministry insisted, however, that no compelling evidence had been produced to show that the basement of Casa Cassar (Casa Lanfreducci) was a historical burial site.

Its statement was issued minutes after the Labour Party called for an inquiry into the removal of the skeletal remains from the site.

The NGO Flimkien Ghal Ambjent Ahjar is protesting that this basement was an extension of the crypt of Our Lady of Victory Church and must not be converted into facilities for the open theatre, which forms part of the Piano project.

The ministry said it was concerned about a statement made by Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar accompanied by a photograph, that suggested grievous breaches of antiquities and criminal laws when Casa Cassar was in possession of its tenants.

"The photograph shows human remains randomly piled in cardboard boxes labelled ‘Pasticceria Assortita’ which, the FAA says, were found in 2009 by the tenants of the property. The photo represents the exact situation the Grand Harbour Regeneration Corporation has recently found at the property when it first visited the site in connection with the present application to develop the site for cultural use. These cardboard boxes containing what appear to be human remains have not been touched pending investigations ordered by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage," the ministry said.

(The ministry did not say who the tenants were. However it was reported earlier this month that the basement of Casa Lanfreducci was until last month used by the Maltese Association of the Knights of the Order of St John. The building was leased for 50 years in 1991 and was restored by the Order. The lease was terminated by the government.)

The ministry said the human bones were packed in the modern card-boxes and placed in the basement of Casa Cassar by the tenants. Because of this displacement, the original location of these bones was still unknown. Had the bones been found in the basement as claimed, they should have been protected in situ and reported to the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage as required by Maltese legislation.

No such report was known to have been made to the Superintendence.

"It is clear from current investigations that a substantial volume of rock was cut and removed from the entire area of the basement’s floor by the tenants. Any archaeological features that may have once existed in the rock-bed would have therefore been irretrievably quarried away and lost during these works. Such works required a development planning application and should have been authorised by MEPA," the ministry added.

"It is a matter of concern that individuals who publicly hold the photographed human bones to be ‘sacred’ and the site to be of historic and archaeological importance, should have handled the alleged burial ground in such an amateurish and disrespectful manner during their tenancy of the property."

It reiterated its statement of January 14 that although burial in crypts under churches was known to occur, the notion that the basements of neighbouring houses were somehow used as extensions for burial was not what one might normally expect.

In any case, since excavation (under the planned development) would be minimal and would be strictly supervised as regulated by standard MEPA requirements for similar situations, in the unlikely event that anything specific was found, the normal action required by Maltese laws to protect any archaeological finds would be respected in full”.

"This commitment is a legal obligation, which obligation should have also governed the behaviour of the previous tenants of Casa Cassar."

The ministry said that as part of the present development planning process, representatives of the Grand Harbour Rehabilitation Corporation, their architects, as well Mepa MEPA and the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage have held a number of on-site meetings during recent weeks.

Independently, MEPA and the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage had ordered the Grand Harbour Regeneration Corporation to undertake a number of studies including a condition report and an archaeological investigation to be carried out under the direction of the Superintendence. These studies were currently under way.

In the meantime, the remains bundled and abandoned on the site would be appropriately investigated and after that given a proper burial.

PL STATEMENT

The Labour Party has urged the government to withdraw its Mepa application for a development permit for excavations and conversion of the basement of Casa Lanfreducci and the crypt of Our Lady of Victories Church into facilities for the roofless theatre in Valletta.

Spokesman Roderick Galdes said the party was also calling for an inquiry into the removal of skeletal remains which had reportedly been removed at the site.

He said that statements about the site issued by the NGO Flimkien ghal-Ambjent Ahjar were worrying, especially if the government through these works, would be destroying items of cultural heritage.

See also

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110117/local/pictures-of-skeletal-remains-prove-valletta-basement-was-burial-ground-faa

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