The statement by the Maltese Association of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, clearly establishing the fact that the due process had been followed three years ago when human remains were discovered in the basement of Casa Lanfreducci, makes it incumbent upon the Ministry of Infrastructure to immediately clarify how it is they have managed to mishandle this series of events so disastrously.

Not only was the plan to desecrate a burial site crassly insensitive, the ministry added serious insult to injury by falsely claiming the Order had somehow acted illegally and without proper consultation.

It then turns out the government, right up to Prime Ministerial level, had been fully consulted and had granted approval for the Order’s activities.

This whole sorry affair suggests an extraordinary degree of incompetence within the ministry, which, once their plan was fairly challenged, should have set about examining the facts of the case. Instead, they issued inaccurate and unpleasant statements against both the Order and Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, whose sole “crime” has been to bring the truth of all this to public attention.

What many people perhaps do not realise is that the Order enjoys sovereign status; it has diplomatic relations with over 100 countries, including Malta. The Ministry of Infrastructure has therefore publicly insulted a friendly state! In some countries, such behaviour generally culminates in ministerial resignations.