Why Gozo's historical landscape must be protected

This past month has been shocking for those who care about Gozo. 

First, a 22-apartment complex was approved for development within Ġgantija Temple’s buffer zone. Then, the iconic Fort Chambray’s British barracks were approved for dismantling: all this atop of countless other attacks on our environment.

This is ironically happening against the backdrop of the general election. As the Prime Minister and leader of the Opposition engage in a bidding war to see who can give away the most, construction projects are metastasising on our island like a malignant cancer.

Such electoral giveaways will likely be financed by the construction industry, where a single application can generate hundreds of thousands of euros.

But the real issue is not the absence of meaningful rhetoric; it is regulatory failure.

The salary arrangement between the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage and the Planning Authority was recently made public, pointing towards clear conflicts of interest. The Superintendence defended the arrangement as “part of the normal machinery of Maltese public administration”, used “to allocate expertise”— an argument that rings alarm bells.  

The SCH was designed to be a check on the Planning Authority, not its arm.  

It is difficult to find “expertise” in these decisions. Take Ta’ Lablab, a site five minutes (250m) from the Santa Verna Temple. In 2022, a resident found human bones scattered by a bulldozer. We submitted extensive documentation detailing the monitoring failures that led to the partial destruction of the Ġgantija-phase children’s burial pit and launched a Parliamentary petition calling for protection of the area.

The official response from the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage Kurt Farrugia raises eyebrows. He claimed our statement that the Santa Verna landscape held a Neolithic settlement thousands of years older than the Ġgantija Temples (c. 3800 – 2000 BCE) was “incorrect”. However, radiocarbon dates extracted near Santa Verna reveal activity from 5400 - 5000 BCE.

That the Superintendent does not understand this — when his own office was involved with this study — is shocking. That he issued such a mistaken statement to the Parliamentary Committee is disheartening.

Also distressing is the response to our suggestion that future investigations in Xagħra may reveal evidence of Malta’s early hunter-gatherers, as found in Mellieħa’s Latnija Cave. The Superintendent dismissively wrote, “no evidence of the Mesolithic era has been found in the area”, bizarrely adding “the Latnija cave is not nearby, but is in Malta”.

This response misses the point. Of course, no Mesolithic evidence had been found in Gozo — until Latnija, nobody knew that hunter-gatherers had successfully crossed the Mediterranean. But as Gozo lies between Sicily and Malta, it is reasonable to argue that comprehensive investigation — not destruction — should precede major development in the area.

Other issues are alarming. In 2020, the Qaċċa Burial Cavities were discovered steps away (53m) from the Xagħra Circle, Gozo’s only mass prehistoric cemetery. Originally, the site was granted Class A protection.

Yet a year later (under Farrugia’s tenure), the area had no signage, no fencing — nothing to indicate a major archaeological discovery — only a tarp that did not completely cover over human bones.

A prominent archaeologist referred the matter to the Superintendent, emphasising the site needed “urgent attention”. Farrugia acknowledged it “may require re-arrangement or new coverage”. 

Six years later? The torn tarp doesn’t cover half as much as before. No signage or fencing was installed. Were the human remains even preserved? That the architect offered to bury them in a rock garden indicates they may not have been — and no SCH annual report after 2020 mentions them either. 

A coalition of Gozo’s NGOs advocated expropriating the site, stating it could “produce invaluable data". But in 2023, the area “was greenlighted for the building of two houses with pools”, despite being within Ġgantija’s buffer zone. 

Why preserve and study a thousands-year-old site when a couple of people can enjoy a pool instead?

And then there is Ta’ Qaċċa.

One minute  (82m) west of the Xagħra Circle, another site within Ġgantija’s buffer zone is approved for development: Ta’ Qaċċa’s 27-flat, 36-garage complex — not to be confused with  Ġgantija Heights, a 22-flat development 176m east of the temple, a monstrosity the Gozo Regional Council argued would cause “permanent harm”.

All these developments indicate systematic dismantling of Malta’s cultural-heritage protective mechanisms. It has to stop.

This election is a time for renewal, and in this time of change, we are asking for protection of our beautiful, historical landscapes. Our mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing is directly tied to our environments. 

The best governance is not dictation: it is conversation, collaboration, and compromise. Gozo deserves leaders who care about her beauty, her history, her people. 

The passionate NGO representatives, political candidates, activists, and performing artists taking part in our event give us hope: diverse voices will rise in a unified chorus of protest that empowers us to continue fighting for the land that, at least, we refuse to abandon.

Malta Arch is holding a protest- performance - “You Don’t Know What You’ve Got ‘Til It’s Gone”  - on Saturday May 23 from 10.30am to 12.30pm at the Xagħra Viewpoint followed by an "Archaeological Journey" to Santa Verna Temple.