Din l-Art Ħelwa expresses 'grave concern' over Fort Tigné Portelli deal
The group warned that the site's heritage status should 'be protected at all costs'
Heritage NGO Din l-Art Ħelwa has expressed “grave concern” over a €2.5 million deal to transfer control of Fort Tigné from investment group MIDI to property mogul Joseph Portelli, who plans to convert the historic fort into a hotel.
In a statement, Din l-Art Ħelwa said the deal jeopardised Malta’s application to have the historic site afforded recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The organisation questioned why Malta would "jeopardise" the plans while insisting that plans to develop the hotel do not go ahead and that the bid for world heritage status “be protected at all costs”.
The deal emerged on Tuesday, when MIDI said in a market statement that it had entered into a promise of sale agreement with Portelli’s firm, J Portelli Projects Ltd.
The deal would grant Portelli title over the historic Sliema fort, its surrounding grounds and a portion of land at basement level at Tigné Point for the next 75 years.
Din l-Art Ħelwa said that under the deal signed between MIDI and the government in 2000, however, the group was “legally bound not to transfer assets considered part of Malta’s national heritage - including Fort Tigné - without prior government approval”.
The NGO said the deal “reinforces Fort Tigné as a protected, non-alienable heritage asset, which cannot be sold, subdivided, or repurposed like ordinary commercial or residential properties”.
It said that any proposed change to the site “must be subject to direct government intervention and approval”, and the proposed hotel conversion “cannot be undertaken without seriously compromising the construction, historic nature and context of the site”.
Turning to the world heritage nomination, the heritage organisation noted that the site was a Grade 1 scheduled site and formed part of Malta’s UNESCO Tentative List – a preliminary list of sites a country plans to nominate for world heritage status.
The monument appears on a list for “Knights’ fortifications around the harbours of Malta” submitted in 1998, which the NGO said “highlights ‘Forts Ricasoli and Tigné and the Carafa Bastions' as key components of Malta’s historic harbour defences”.
The NGO stressed that “significant effort” had gone into the nomination process, which it said was now at a “critical stage”, while quoting Culture Minister Owen Bonnici’s words in September that “extensive work” had gone into identifying Maltese sites qualifying for UNESCO status.
A final report about the nomination is due to be submitted by January 30 next year, with UNESCO evaluation and a World Heritage committee vote expected in July, the NGO said.
“Din l-Art Ħelwa stresses that Malta’s Knights’ fortifications, including Fort Tigné, fully merit inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List. We question why Malta would jeopardise such an important national and international opportunity”, it said.
“We insist that, under no circumstances, should permission be granted to convert Fort Tigné into a hotel, and that the site’s historic value and its role in Malta’s bid for UNESCO status be protected at all costs.”