Protest against school permit refusal

Mark Zerafa’s eight-year-old son, Luke, was accepted into Year 4 at St Augustine’s College this year but his scholastic future is uncertain after the planning authority refused a permit to build the school.

Luke is one of 150 students who are being temporarily taught at the Archbishop’s Seminary in Tal-Virtù, Rabat until their new school in Pietà is built.

The original plan was to open the new school in the scholastic year starting 2013. However, the Malta Environment and Planning Authority last week refused the application.

“The plan seems to have gone haywire and we are worried about our son’s future,” Mr Zerafa said as he walked from the Floriana War Memorial to the Prime Minister’s office in Valletta yesterday morning. About 300 parents, teachers and students took part in the protest to voice their frustration at the Mepa decision. The protest ended with college rector Fr Alan Scerri presenting a petition addressed to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi.

The petition, signed by 600 parents, teachers and former students, asked the Prime Minister to help them find a timely solution.

As the crowd reached the top of the hill, a small boy who was being carried on his father’s shoulders pointed towards Auberge de Castille, where Dr Gonzi has his office, and asked his father: “Is that our new school?”

Claire Mallia said she was worried because she did not know what would happen of her five-year-old son, now in Year 1, if the new school did not materialise.

The boy, Kelvin, has concerns of his own, pointing out that he would be separated from his beloved school friends should he be forced to change school.

Apart from the concerned parents, Fr Scerri said that about 20 teachers, employed this year, were facing uncertainty.

The college had proposal to build four floors and two basement levels, covering an area of 7,700 square metres, on an undeveloped site between the existing secondary school and back gardens in a residential area.

The planning officer on the case said the design and height of the proposed building were unacceptable. He said the project lacked coordination, would constitute overdevelopment of the site and failed to respect the context of the urban conservation area.

Project architect Mannie Galea insisted that the project was in line with all policies as it was in a white area, meaning there were no specific height limitations. The extension was designed to follow the height of the existing building.

Fr Scerri pointed out that the construction of the school, which would have taken about 300 pupils, formed part of the education reform and a €20 million Church expansion project whereby five of its schools would incorporate both education levels.

He said the college had filed the application in 2009 and it had taken over two years for Mepa to come up with a decision. While filing an appeal was one of the options being looked into, this would take too much time. For this reason, Fr Scerri called on the Prime Minister to help find a fast solution to the problem.