Over 200 Rabat residents have called on Archbishop Paul Cremona to immediately halt construction on the extension to the Seminary at Tal-Virtù.
“We are asking you to immediately intervene to stop the development in the grounds and order the Archbishop’s Seminary authorities to start discussions with the planning authority and the residents to find a solution that will satisfy all,” the residents said in a petition.
A total of 225 residents from Tal-Virtù and the surrounding area signed the petition, which was presented to Archbishop Cremona on Wednesday. The list also includes Rabat mayor Sandro Craus and Tal-Virtù Administrative Committee chairman Lino Pace Bonello.
The contested permit, issued last September, provides for the demolition of an existing block and the construction of a new extension to the Seminary school in the scenic Rabat area.
The extension forms part of the education reform, under which five Church schools, including the Seminary, are included in a €20 million investment programme.
The process leading to the granting of the permit was slammed by Mepa auditor Joe Falzon, who in a report described the case officer’s assessment of the extension permit application as “sheer incompetence or abuse”.
In the petition, the residents, who have already filed a judicial protest, said they were extremely concerned about the development, which had been approved because the Mepa board had been “misguided” by a badly written report.
The application would have been refused had it been analysed in the context of all the area’s policies, they said.
“Even though the permit was issued legally, we believe it has no moral basis because it was granted after serious mistakes were made. Also, the procedures created by the planning authority itself were not applied to the permit,” the residents said.
They called on Mgr Cremona, as head of the Maltese Church, to “examine” the situation since the Seminary was being extended under a permit that failed to conform with Mepa’s rules and ethics.
The Archbishop was being “misguided” because he had only heard one side of the story, which obviously did not include any negative consequences.
The residents urged the Archbishop to read Mr Falzon’s report to “be informed” about the problem that would have huge consequences on many people.
The extension will increase the student population from 250 to 825 and the staff by 60. The development extends the floor area of the existing seminary by 430 per cent, and includes the construction of a new primary school, 29 new classrooms, a dormitory, six laboratories and a new parking area with 67 places.
Residents believe the expansion will create an excessive volume of additional traffic in Tal-Virtù and Rabat which would negatively affect the area.