The Opposition spokesman on planning, Ryan Callus, yesterday urged the government to reconsider its proposal to remove the so-called Schedule 6, sanctioning illegal developments in or around protected sites.
Introducing his Private Members’ Motion to protect Ta’ Ħaġrat temples, Mr Callus noted that Schedule 6 was used as a deterrent against those who took the law into their own hands and changed or tried to demolish listed buildings.
He urged Parliamentary Secretary Michael Falzon to reconsider the proposal that the status of scheduled buildings be reviewed before 10 years.
If not, this would lead to owners abandoning their property in the hope it loses its value.
Mr Callus said he was ready to sit down with Dr Falzon to find consensus on the two proposals because both sides of the House had to agree on something as crucial as the national heritage.
Focusing on the Ta’ Ħaġrat Neolithic Temples in Mġarr, he agreed with the government which blocked a development permit issued by Mepa a few metres away after it expropriated the land in question.
However, he asked Dr Falzon whether the expropriation had in fact been carried out and, if not, when would it take place. He expressed astonishment that the planning authority had issued the development permit next door to the world heritage structure.
He was relieved that good sense had prevailed and the government had stepped in following objections by the Mġarr local council, the NGO Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, AD’s Arnold Cassola and the Opposition, which had presented the motion now before Parliament.
He was relieved that good sense had prevailed and thatthe government had stepped in
Mr Callus acknowledged that “everyone had failed” when it came to the temples in question but he pointed out that the land had not been included in the development zone for Mġarr during the rationalisation exercise in 2006.
Everyone, whether in government or in Opposition, had to shoulder responsibility to protect the national heritage and Mepa now needed to carry out an analysis and site visits of all the megalithic temples all over the Maltese islands to ascertain that the surrounding land did not fall within development zones so that the mistake that almost happened at Ta’ Ħaġrat would not happen elsewhere.
Ċensu Galea (PN) said Malta had the highest number of heritage sites for every square kilometre and one had to protect them seriously.
One should not repeat previous mistakes: a schedule of important places should be in place to exclude their demolition. The planning authority and organisations that sought to protect heritage sites should collaborate with each other to ensure the protection of such sites.
Silvio Parnis (PL) said that one should use the southern areas of Malta to attract military tourism. However, one should first restore Malta’s southern areas, which had been abandoned.
He said several mistakes were committed in the past. These included the demolition of the place of residence of Ninu Cremona, one of Malta’s foremost literary figures.
Dr Falzon, Opposition deputy leader Mario de Marco and Culture Minister Owen Bonnici also contributed to the debate.