An application for the removal of soil from a Naxxar site, which is deemed to be of archaeological interest possibly dating back to Roman times, has been withdrawn.
The application was for the removal of soil for archaeological investigation in a 2,816 square metre site located outside the development zone in an area known as Tal-Wej.
For the Archaeological Society Malta and Din l-Art Ħelwa, the removal of the soil would be “unwarranted, methodologically flawed and damaging” to the site’s archaeological value.
The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage and the Environment and Resources Authority opposed the removal, with the former urging the Planning Authority to implement its policies to ensure the protection of the natural and cultural landscape.
According to the Superintendence, the area of Tal-Wej is a multiperiod site with cultural heritage features dating from the Bronze Age.
It explained that the way the Tal-Wej area had been shaped through the interaction of humankind with its natural environment defined the area as an important cultural landscape.
Unwarranted, methodologically flawed and damaging
Among other features, there were cart-ruts, dolmen, ancient quarries and rock-cut tombs, as well as more recent early-modern structures such as a 16th-century chapel dedicated to Santa Margherita, corbelled huts (ġiren) and agricultural trenches.
For the ERA, the proposed intervention, involving the clearing of vegetation and soil removal, was objectionable, as it would change the physical features of the site, affecting mature carob and almond trees.
While it welcomed the news of the withdrawal, the Archaeological Society Malta reiterated that such an application regarding a protected area outside the development zones should not even have been considered in the first instance.
When contacted, DLĦ said it was glad the application had been withdrawn and augured the area would be safeguarded against any future threats of development under any pretext.
Facebook group Take the PA to Court said the application was “clearly the pretext for the site to be developed”, proven by the fact that a property website was selling the land “with plans to be in rationalisation for development of terraced houses and villas”.
“As this pretext was used systematically to destroy Tal-Qares, it can be seen that this strategy implies cronyism. The archaeological remains at Tal-Qares were said to be of no archaeological value. It is obviously known that Tal-Wej is a site of ecological and archaeological value, and yet, somehow the results of such a survey were known by [the property website] at the application stage,” the group said, calling for a criminal investigation.