Local events organisers are crying foul at the decision to allow a rave party outside the protected Red Tower after their request to host a similar event there was rejected.
The organisers of the popular electronic music party Blank said they had approached Din l-Art Ħelwa, which manages the Mellieħa heritage site, over a month ago, asking permission to use part of the area for an event to be held at the end of this month.
“We met with Din l-Art Ħelwa representatives to discuss the possibility of having a party there, because a similar venue we had previously used was no longer available. The representatives agreed we could hold the party there against a fee of €500 and a number of conditions, which we agreed to meet. However, a few days later we were informed we could not hold the party there,” one of the organisers said.
We were willing to follow all their instructions and to pay the fee, but our request was still turned down, while foreign organisers were granted permission within days.- Blank organisers
Meanwhile, news broke that a rave would happen at the tower as part of the Lost and Found festival, held at different venues over the Easter weekend. Originally, the rave party, organised in collaboration with the Malta Tourism Authority, was planned for Selmun, however complaints from area residents prompted the organisers to seek an alternative.
A spokeswoman for DLĦ reiterated that the rave party was not an event organised by the NGO. Both the MTA and the local council had cleared the party, and DLĦ only allowed the use of the car park outside the Red Tower and laid down specific conditions to protect the environment and avoid injuries, she noted.
She said DLĦ had only granted permission because the Malta Transit Authority was involved, adding that the MTA was “a government authority and… we felt would be promoting the site”.
The spokeswoman denied that there had been any pressure from the government.
According to the Blank organisers, when they contacted the NGO in recent days to complain about the issue, they were again told this was a one-off decision and it would not be granting permission to anyone else.
“Why is it that some were granted permission and not others? We were willing to follow all their instructions and to pay the fee, but our request was still turned down, while foreign organisers were granted permission within days,” they said.
The Red Tower – officially known as St Agatha’s Tower – has undergone extensive restoration in recent years.
The area surrounding the tower is listed in the inventory of nationally designated areas, which is a European register of protected areas.
The structure is a stone’s throw away from a number of Natura 2000 sites.
Questions sent to the MTA remained unanswered at the time of writing.
claire.caruana@timesofmalta.com