The newly-represented Democratic Party in Parliament has wasted no time in making its voice heard. It launched a blistering attack on the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage, Tony Pace, asking how he had “remained so quiet” about the assault on Malta’s cultural heritage and “identity” over the past few years.

“Under his oversight,” the party said, “his office has allowed the Planning Authority to approve a frightening number of applications to desecrate (sic) Malta’s heritage and identity. The public has started to catch on to this fact.

The superintendent did not take action against the Kerċem development application, which threatened the Roman Catacombs of Gozo. Questions must now be asked. It has become abundantly clear that the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage has, in some way, been compromised (sic) to rubber stamp development applications.”

To support this sweeping and damning statement, the party highlight a number of examples of decisions which badly affected Malta’s cultural heritage.

These include the abandonment by the Superintendent of vernacular houses in Żebbuġ; the agreement that the unique and historic “Cloisters” in Mrabat Street, Sliema should be developed into a “boutique hotel”; the redevelopment of Blackley’s Bakery, in Pietà; and the failure to act positively against the possible development in Mosta of the archaeological site at Il-Wesgħa tal-Ġganti.

The Democratic Party concludes its criticism of the superintendent’s record by saying that, in view of “the assault” on Malta’s cultural heritage in the past months and years and “the clear absence of the assumption of any responsibility by Dr Pace”, it decided to question his credibility as Superintendent. It demands that there should be an investigation into the reasons behind the decisions (it highlighted) and that these should be subjected to public scrutiny.

It is unusual for a political party – even one as small and as new to the House of Representatives as the Democratic Party – to launch a public attack against a named senior public officer who is usually unable to respond publicly. Normally, a complaint about the efficiency and effectiveness of a public entity would be directed forcefully at the minister, in this case Culture Minister Owen Bonnici.

The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, which came into effect 15 years ago, is the keystone of the cultural heritage structure in Malta. It is the ultimate safeguard of the country’s cultural heritage.

Its job is to say no to any development that threatens any aspect of Malta’s architectural identity and heritage. Its responsibilities range from setting policy standards and assessing land-use planning applications, which impact on heritage sites, to maintaining comprehensive and up-to-date records and regulating heritage management plans.

There can be no doubt that the Democratic Party has exposed a pattern of extraordinarily weak and wayward decisions by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage in recent years. The fact that it is well known that the office has been woefully under-resourced ever since it was created can be no excuse for it not standing up to the Planning Authority when cultural heritage is threatened.

The Democratic Party’s demand that a public investigation should be conducted into the reasons underlying the litany of apparently poor decisions taken by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage to ensure lessons are learnt for the future is a reasonable one.

The Culture Minister should institute one immediately.

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