The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage has formally asked the Planning Authority to freeze the highly contentious permit issued on November 9 for an apartment block on the doorstep of Ġgantija temples.

The permit is for 22 flats and 20 underlying garages, less than 200 metres away from the protected temples.

In a brief statement on Wednesday, the Superintendence invoked an article of the Development Planning Act to request the authority to embark on procedures to freeze the permit until a Heritage Impact Assessment it had requested is concluded.

It said it would then evaluate its conclusions. The assessment, the Superintendence said, should guide the applicant, the architect and the authorities on the impact or otherwise of the proposed development on the temples.

Dating back around 5,600 years, Ġgantija Temples are the world’s oldest remains of a free-standing building and the world’s second-oldest religious building.

The permit drew shock and widespread condemnation with a fact-check by Times of Malta showing that all sites within this particular area of archaeological importance also fall within the buffer zone, contrary to the developers’ claims.

UNESCO mandates that a heritage impact assessment is required for any developments within buffer zones of World Heritage sites.

UNESCO World Heritage Centre wrote a letter to Malta’s Permanent Delegate to UNESCO insisting that “in accordance with the operational guidelines, a heritage impact assessment should be carried out for the development”.