I refer to Sonja Besford’s letter Permits In Rabat (June 12).

It is sad to hear once again about the destruction of soil, trees, shrubs and rubble walls in a bid to pave the way for development. It is even more sad if development is to occur on the vast archaeological virgin land as this site off Triq Ġorġ Borg Olivier, which has always served as the green lungs of Rabat.

From the rear windows of houses in Triq Ġorġ Borg Olivier and along Triq Inguanez one can see a vast area of archaeological importance extending from Luton House (No 9) up to door number 39, now uncovered from soil with the aim of being developed.

The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage must act with great responsibility to safeguard this site; after all it might be of most importance to learn about on our islands’ past.

Residents or interested parties can consider themselves lucky to have found out that a renewal to the present permit to build three villas has been requested. Despite the fact that no application notice was visible on site for the first 17 days until this was brought to the attention of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, quite a substantial number of residents have submitted an objection to the proposed renewal of the permit.