Nothing matters to the Labour Government, even if it comes to the detriment of Malta’s historical heritage, Nationalist Party MPs Julie Zahra and Stanley Zammit said in a statement on Friday.
The PN said that Robert Abela’s Cabinet is confused when it comes to sensitive matters such as the protection of the country’s historical heritage. It added that the Planning Authority had caused a fiasco when it approved a permit for development opposite Ggantija, “even though it knew” that the development would take place in the protection zone of a structure older than the pyramids.
It continued that before deciding, the PA had a duty to analyse a report on the impact risks which could occur from development, which would take place in the area of a protected UNESCO world heritage site.
They continued that “while the permit was thrown into a limbo not contemplated in the law,” Robert Abela and Parliamentary Secretary Alison Zerafa Civelli were convinced and happy that the development would be done before the Heritage Impact Assessment would even be completed, “and it seems that they already know what the outcome of the report will be”. The MPs said that this is all compromising the decisions which have yet to be taken.
The Nationalist MPs said that Heritage Malta and the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage only reacted after the PN and various environmental organisations had “made their voices heard in the face of the scandalous development” in the area of the megalithic temples of Ggantija in Gozo.
The PN concluded that it will continue to work in the interest of the common good, such as in this case through the protection and safeguarding of national heritage and that the country “needs leadership much more serious and integrated to really bring the interest of Malta and Gozo before any other interest.”