Wartime heritage in Hamrun

In his letter (September 8), the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage, Anthony Pace, quite rightly says that: "The role of local councils in managing their heritage is a vital one. The reform of the heritage sector introduced several possibilities by which local authorities and NGOs could participate in the care and management of Malta's vast heritage".

In fact, the Heritage Act is quite specific about the duties of all citizens including local councils in the preservation of the cultural heritage: "Every citizen of Malta as well as every person present in Malta shall have the duty of protecting the cultural heritage as well as the right to benefit from this cultural heritage through learning and enjoyment".

Heavy penalties are contemplated in the law for anyone causing wilful damage or destruction of such property and that includes (quoting verbatim from the Act) making "a declaration for any of the purposes of this Act which is false, misleading or incorrect in any material respect".

Several local councils have to be lauded for the diligence taken in recent years in preserving the heritage of their localities and that includes the wartime heritage.

The exigencies of the Heritage Act were confirmed again by two ministers in Parliament, way back in June in answers made to parliamentary questions numbers 13137, 13138, 13139, 1340 dealing with wartime heritage, cisterns and other remains.

One hopes that the Hamrun local council will, one of these days take some of its precious time to energetically carry out its legal responsibilities (apart from a couple of very half-hearted, impersonal notes sent to Mepa over a period of two or three years) regarding the further desecration of an archaeological site that has been recently approved by the DCC (PA/05495/02) and against which an appeal by private citizens has now been officially lodged.

It is worth reminding for the umpteenth time the members of the Hamrun local council that this site, which is very well known to them and where illegal excavation was allowed to go on in full view of the whole of Hamrun some years back, has well-documented extensive wartime heritage and at least one bell-shaped water cistern and lies in an area of High Street where, according to antique documentation and maps of the site (copies of which have been given to assist the Superintendence and other interested bodies), lie in very close proximity to the underground Wignacourt aqueduct and, possibly, other archaeological remains.

One hopes that, eventually, in due time, after everything has been taken into consideration, after further in-depth analysis and, more importantly, before it gets too late, the Hamrun local council will in the none too distant future face up to its responsibilities.