Hamrun heritage

Reference is made to George Pullicino's article Declawing the Cat (October 27).

After some opinion formers and the official Maltese-language media of the political party in government saw fit to pillory us publicly in the regular and electronic press with very generalised accusations of nimbyism, the honourable minister responsible for the Malta Environment and Planning Authority felt it opportune to enter the fray in the case of Mepa's green light to the excavation of a site in Hamrun in which lies proven evidence of underground protected war-time heritage, an antique bell-shaped water cistern and "possibly other archaeological remains" (quoting from a Mepa case officer's report).

This the honourable gentleman chose to do a mere 24 hours before the first scheduled hearing in front of the appeals board of Mepa itself of our formal and valid objections to that part of the development in question affecting directly the above-mentioned protected remains.

In order not to repeat ourselves yet again and bore readers stiff I humbly suggest that Mr Pullicino refers to all that we have written about the subject, in this and other papers since the first week of August, when this newspaper was the first to highlight the plight of this part of the war-time heritage in our locality.

We also refer him to the voluminous material in the form of registered snail and electronic mail sent to him over the years about the subject as well as to the provisions of the Cultural Heritage Act and the conditions set by Mepa itself, attached to the full development permit of PA 05495/02, which permit was the only single one of a number of permits (covering the development next door) to which we objected.

We also refer him to the letter published in The Times in early September by the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage himself, and last but not least, to his very own ministerial answers to parliamentary questions 13138, 13139, 13140 asked in mid-July of this year.

In his article, Mr Pullicino says: "A joint statement by Mepa and SCH officials shows that all is proceeding according to permit and in due respect of the protection of the cultural heritage...a joint inspection by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage and Mepa has certified there is no infringement of the permit conditions in the development PA 5495/02 in Triq San Guzepp, Hamrun."

Mr Pullicino may do well to come and see with his very own eyes, a week after that joint Mepa/SCH statement, the site in question where once upon a time there used to be an intact war-time heritage, that is, if he can make it past the gargantuan black burqa currently enveloping the site totally for the last week since the statement.

If observing Part II, article 4 (2) in Chapter 445 of the Laws of Malta also known as the Cultural Heritage Act is interpreted by the mightiest and most influential of the land as "nimbyism" by "bickering neighbours", then we confess that we are affected by such a syndrome. We sincerely hope that other inconsequential small fry like us, likewise affected, will not allow themselves to be intimidated when it comes to standing up to persistently highlight the inevitably sad plight of any local and national heritage that may have the misfortune to get in the way of private entrepreneurs, whoever they may be and regardless of the magnitude of the project.