While the Catholic Maltese and the Knights of St John buried their dead inside the churches of Valletta, a small cemetery for Muslims existed outside the city walls. When Floriana was built, in the late 17th century, the cemetery was relocated to a site within the inner Grand Harbour, near the water’s edge in Marsa creek.

The approximate site of this cemetery was indicated by the late historian Godfrey Wettinger in his book on slavery in Malta. It had trees and a warden, and the Bey of Tripoli provided burial shrouds and oils to be used at its ceremonies.

A century and a half later, in 2012, this area in Marsa was dug up to build a new road, just beneath the windows of my office at the time. As the diggers got to work, they struck upon a set of old graves.

Archaeologists were called in. The bodies were oriented south-eastwards, towards Mecca, and it was soon reported that this might be the old Muslim burial ground. This still needed confirmation through DNA testing of the bones.

During the 19th century, the British had re-engineered the harbour area and the cemetery was lost. In the 1870s a new Muslim cemetery was financed by the Ottoman sultan. This is now known as the Turkish cemetery, just off Aldo Moro Street at Marsa. It has suffered neglect over time but is being extensively restored.

This beautiful, ornate cemetery was designed by the Maltese architect E.L. Galizia, in the Orientalist style fashionable throughout the British empire at that period. Soon afterwards, Galizia built his own villa, known as the ‘Alhambra’ in Rudolph Street, Sliema, also in an Orientalist style.

But this is 21st century Malta, and it is now customary that every beautiful structure must perforce have an unsightly develop­ment next door. Lo and behold, somebody now wants to build a petrol station next to this architectural gem. This would spoil the visual enjoyment of the cemetery and is totally incompatible with the historic and religious character of the place, which is scheduled as a Grade I monument.

This undesirable proposal might, of course, be refused by the Planning Authority. Seeing some of the recent permit decisions which simply disregard context, such as the ongoing struggle over a proposed apartment block in Lija, I am not overly hopeful.

Some of our planners habitually wear blinkers, keep their eyes fixed on jobs and euros, and proceed to enable the destruction of the country.

To be fair, applications for a petrol station on the Coast Road and one near Magħtab have both been refused. There is a craze for petrol stations at the moment. They have been controversial for ages, and I myself recall unpleasant experiences with the approval of a couple a few years ago, for instance at Buqana below the Mdina bastions, and another near Mġarr.

If they are all approved, there will be six petrol stations in close proximity to one another. The new policy is encouraging madness

The number of applications was however quite limited, and many were completely stalled. A new planning policy was introduced last year which has led to a surge of interest. At Burmarrad, for example, three petrol stations are being proposed on the same stretch of road.

This road leads to the St Paul’s Bay roundabout and is near three existing petrol stations that have been there for years. If they are all approved, there will be six petrol stations in close proximity to one another.

The new policy is encouraging madness.

Even if the applications are all refused, it makes no sense for a brand new policy, supposedly addressing current and real needs, to instead encourage a load of redundant proposals, many of which may be speculative land grabs. The policy should be reviewed as soon as possible.

Petrol stations today operate in a libera­lised market, and licences are not regulated as before. One way to assert control is through planning policies such as this, restricting land use. Yet instead of limiting the number of petrol stations per km2, it enables rows of them within short distances of one another.

The petrol station policy erroneously relies on market forces to restrict numbers. The planners must believe that people will not build more petrol stations than the market can sustain. Very funny. This conveniently ignores another marketplace, revolving around land speculation.

Petrol stations are a route to Outside Development Zone and other building permits. One day, these might be converted into supermarkets or hotels, or something even more lucrative. Fast food restaurants are already moving in. We all know that, once disturbed, land is rarely reinstated, so any ODZ permit is valuable.

In the case of the Turkish cemetery, there is a ray of hope. The petrol station policy aims to safeguard “landmark buildings whose context deserves protection from visual intrusion”. Let’s hope that this will be enough to persuade any permit-hungry planners to turn the proposal away. But don’t count on it, there are always many forces at play.

What is the vision of the future, for an island packed with large, new petrol stations at every corner? Obviously, an island full of cars guzzling fuel, sustaining the petrol stations. Now, while we are on the subject of cemeteries, do I hear a nail being hammered into the coffin of the green transport plan?

petracdingli@gmail.com

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