FAA calls for closure on St John's

Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar (FAA) said today that it had no problem in confirming that it was summoned to meet the St John’s Foundation to discuss the proposed museum extension, but this, it said, came about only after it (the FAA) made the project public.

"No attempt at public consultation or any sort of contact was made during the two years that the Foundation had been dealing with MEPA on the project since 2006," FAA said.

In a statement to react to comments made by a number of columnists, the NGO said a call 'demanding' its attendance was made on a Wednesday afternoon for the following day or Friday, however its representatives had prior commitments which could not be cancelled.

"We offered to meet on any day the following week however that was not accepted by the Curator who insisted on meeting within 48 hours, ie by Friday. That Friday coincided with the last day of the State presidency of the St John’s Foundation as the following Monday it was to be handed over to the Church presidency."

FAA subsequently attended a presentation which the Foundation held at Din l-Art Helwa’s premises which was limited to NGO leaders and heritage authorities but excluding the public.

"In spite of what has been claimed about exclusive presentations, project presentations of this sort are normally made to all the environment NGOs together, in this case the presentation was attended by officials from DLH, FAA, Ramblers Association and Friends of the Earth. On the other hand, in projects affecting the general public or national monuments, the project should also be presented to a wider cross-section of the public and the press before the preparation of an Environment Impact Assessment, as was in fact done in the case of the Grand Harbour Regeneration Plan and the Dock One project," FAA said.

As regards the accuracy of its references to the cemetery at St John's, FAA said the area was referred to as the 1577 Cemetery in publications by Leonard Mahoney, Marquis Nicholas de Piro, Dominic Cutajar (former Curator of St John’s Co-Cathedral Museum) and Dane Munro, an academic on St. John’s Cathedral.

"It is surprising that certain people can’t come to terms with the fact that this case is now closed and prefer to indulge in disparaging remarks and nit-picking. FAA calls for an end to this assault on the public’s democratic and EU rights to participate in the decision-making process of our land and calls for the focus to be directed toward more positive initiatives," the FAA said.