Francis Zammit Dimech, Nationalist Party MEP candidate

Malta can boast of a wide-ranging cultural heritage that has been passed on from one generation to another. Our position in the Mediterranean has given rise to a history and cultural heritage of immeasurable richness that should be protected and revitalised. This is what authorities and policymakers should be committed to but unfortunately, recent episodes have shown that we are facing serious limitations in this regard.

The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage has as its mission to ensure the protection and accessibility​ of Malta’s cultural heritage.  This Superintendence is facing huge challenges. The current human and financial resources are inadequate to complete its tasks, including overlooking development and projects in areas of archaeological importance and to meet the ever-increasing demands as a result of the construction boom.

This requires highly specialised personnel that can take over special tasks of this kind, from the evaluation of permits, to monitoring of conservation-restoration projects and data collection. It is important that the government ensures that the right financial instruments are provided to meet the needs of the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage.

The bullying attitude of Infrastructure Malta is reprehensible and fails to respect our own cultural identity

Over the years, the Superintendence was meant to serve as the guardian of our cultural heritage although from time to time some of its decisions are rightly contested by NGOs and residents.  Regrettably, there have been cases where the Superintendence was not appropriately consulted, which can have adverse consequences on discoveries with a cultural heritage value.

For example, an archaeological survey for the Santa Venera tunnel project was carried out without consultation. In the case of unauthorised works in Naxxar, the opinion of the Superintendence was again not taken into consideration, leading to the loss of remains with probable historical value. Once again an archaeological survey in connection with the Santa Luċia tunnel project was carried out without the consent of the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage. The bullying attitude of Infrastructure Malta is reprehensible and fails to respect our own cultural identity.

The preservation of our cultural heritage has always been a top priority for me and as a former minister responsible for the sector, I have overlooked the restoration of several projects including restoration works on various chapels within St John’s Co-Cathedral. The 2018 European Year of Cultural Heritage should have been an opportunity to showcase the value of our culture heritage. Regrettably we are lagging behind rather than make appropriate use of such opportunities.

In the European Parliament culture has remained a top priority for me and I feel privileged to have contributed to formulating a “New European Agenda for Culture” that takes into account our dimension as an island state. It is high time that we ensure that the national interest will prevail over sheer greed.

Martin Cauchi Inglott, General Secretary of the Democratic Party and MEP candidate. 

We are living in a society where our heritage is under siege, while enjoying a surplus. One could conclude that the government is investing in protecting our national treasures, two good reasons being to protect what make these islands unique, and to continue receiving quality tourists. Sadly, the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage appears to be in crisis management mode as limited resources have transformed this authority into an office that vets construction applications rather than provides a vision for cultural development. The Superintendence is in this depressing state for a number of reasons.

For starters, the manpower situation appears to be abysmal. There should be at least one official per major town or region, to monitor and inspect Planning Authority applications. In reality, a handful of case officers is expected to deal with some 50 odd cases weekly. Now the minister may argue that he has recently recruited more staff, but these are young and inexperienced, almost half being non-nationals, which bring challenges of territorial familiarity.

The authority should be buffered from political influence by strengthening its role in the Constitution

New officials should be well versed, as well as graduates in architecture, archaeology, planning and local heritage. Retention is part and parcel of the game, so modern, comfortable offices would help, together with long-term professional incentives.

Secondly, the PA may opt to disregard SCH recommendations, and currently, old houses being demolished are being replaced with new buildings, which create a jarring effect on streetscapes, while the work of our ancestors vanishes into overflowing landfills.

Is it not possible to recycle old stone for reuse in city centres? Perhaps more emphasis should be placed on spaces between villages, views and vistas, especially to and from the walled cities, which are disappearing as we continue to uglify our nation. Should the SCH not take charge of this aspect too?

And finally, the government seems dead set on weakening SCH by delegating responsibilities to other authorities such as Heritage Malta.

Though the SCH should be ‘autonomous’, the pressures must be huge in this age of building excess, so perhaps the authority should be buffered from political influence by strengthening its role in the Constitution. But until then, it may be argued that SCH should be transferred from the Ministry of Justice to the Ministry of Tourism as our heritage generates millions of euros from tourism, seeing little in return.

One thing is certain: it is our duty to preserve our cultural treasures for future generations to enjoy, and the main authority capable of safeguarding our architectural heritage is SCH – we should be strengthening this organisation not dismantling it.

The Labour Party failed to send their contribution in time for publication.

If you would like to put any questions to the parties in Parliament send an e-mail marked clearly Question Time to editor@timesofmalta.com.

This is a Times of Malta print opinion piece

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.