A decade after scientists highlighted the need to shelter the Ħaġar Qim and Mnajdra temples to ensure their survival, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday inaugurated the completed project.

“Apart from giving our country a prominent role in studying the progress of mankind, these temples also give us an important position on the tourist attraction map,” Dr Gonzi said during the official opening ceremony for the €4.7 million EU-funded project, overseen by Heritage Malta.

During the event which was broadcast on TVM, the state channel, Dr Gonzi also passed through the visitors’ centre, a steel structure built in the car park which had sparked some controversy, with some organisations concerned it would have a negative impact on the temples and surrounding landscape.

The decision to install the shelters goes back to 2000, when a team of scientists proposed sheltering the temples following an intensive study.

The experts had identified a number of threats to the integrity of the prehistoric stone temples, namely rain, fluctuations in temperature and humidity.

The experts proposed that the temples should be protected by temporary shelters, with a 25-to-30-year life span, which would buy more time for the experts to come up with a solution for the long-term preservation of the sites.

Following an international design competition, won by an Italian company, a preliminary permit was approved by the planning authority in 2004.

However, works only started in 2008 after the authority cleared archaeological investigations. Yesterday, Dr Gonzi pointed out that the temples, which have been declared a World a Heritage Site, had a strong cultural, artistic and touristic value for Malta.

Now that the project had been completed, he said, a nature trail would be established to help visitors understand the quality of the landscape that surrounds the temples.