David Darmanin
Conservation NGO Flimkien Ghal Ambjent Ahjar (FAA) has called on the members of the St John’s Co-Cathedral Foundation to resign after the decision by the Prime Minister and the Archbishop to scrap the controversial Cathedral extension.
“The members of the foundation should resign principally due to the fact that they pressed on with the project even though MEPA heritage experts pointed out the unavoidable dangers two years ago,” FAA spokesperson Astrid Vella said.
“The foundation members overstepped their remit to manage and restore St John’s when they undertook this risky expansion project without the express authorisation of church and state authorities. They also systematically concealed this project on a public monument for two years. They subsequently attempted to misinform the public on certain key issues such as their claims that EU funding would be lost to Malta if this project was cancelled.”
Malta’s permanent representative in the EU, Richard Cachia Caruana, who is a member on the foundation’s board, was this week reported saying that it was “sad when decisions are not allowed to be taken by professionals.”
His comment was criticised for having ruled out the professionals who opposed the project in the first place.
Presided by Mgr Philip Calleja, the foundation’s board is made up of Mgr Lawrence Cachia, Richard Cachia Caruana, Paul A. Attard, Dr Philip Farrugia Randon and Mgr Lawrence Mifsud. None of them are professionals in architecture or conservation.
In a sarcastic reaction to this criticism, Cachia Caruana told MaltaToday yesterday that it was “obvious that I was referring to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and planning processes and the professionals who would have been responsible for them…”
In his comment emailed to MaltaToday, Cachia Caruana attached a list of synonyms for ‘professional’ from the thesaurus.
But on Cachia Caruana’s comment, Astrid Vella said that MEPA’s heritage experts had already pointed out in their report that the development should not take place, and that an EIA could not be carried out on the project.
“How can an EIA be carried out on a project that is illegal? The project would have contravened heritage law due to the fact that St John’s is a Grade 1 scheduled monument which prohibits the structural changes proposed by the foundation,” Vella stated.
“MEPA is not obliged to authorise any EIA and in fact, in the case of a project to excavate an underground car park next to Mosta rotunda, an EIA had been refused due to the risk to the church’s foundations and the project was scrapped.
“We wonder what pressure was put upon MEPA to accept the St John’s Co-Cathedral EIA when the EIA for a less vulnerable church in Mosta was refused.”
Council of the Co-Cathedral’s Foundation
Mgr Philip Calleja (president)
Mgr Lawrence Cachia
Richard Cachia Caruana
Paul A. Attard
Philip Farrugia Randon
Mgr Lawrence Mifsud
11 January 2008
The Cathedral foundation submits a MEPA application for an extension to the St John’s Co-Cathedral and another for underground excavation. The foundation claims excavation was the best option so as not to impinge on the capital city’s aesthetics, but admits the submission of two separate applications could have misled the public on what was really proposed. The foundation also claims that after conducting its research, the underground excavation would not damage nearby structures.
The extension of the site would have included additional space to the St John’s Co-Cathedral museum to expose 17th century tapestries; collections of vestments, manuscripts, crucifixes and silverware; a new art gallery for paintings of the 16th, 17th and 18th century and various relics.
13 August 2008
MEPA suggests a three-storey building as an alternative, but the foundation says it preferred its original proposal to install light roofing over its central courtyard and set up a visitors’ centre. The museum extension was originally planned within a proposed underground facility dug beneath St John’s Street.
10 January 2009
MEPA releases a report on what to base the Environment Impact Assessment for the project, inviting the general public to voice its opinion.
24 January 2009
The Opposition tables a motion in parliament calling on government to withdraw the EU funds for the extension and better manage the EU funds available to Malta. The opposition says an abandoned building nearby could serve as an alternative to the museum extension and argues that the restoration of the alternative site would help towards the regeneration of Valletta. The motion also urges government to launch an extensive consultation process in order to enlist essential priorities on the use of EU funds.
25 January 2009
Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando threatens to raise a breach of privilege against a MaltaToday journalist, if the latter insisted with questions on how he intends to vote on the motion presented by the Labour party for the withdrawal of government funding for the underground extension.
1 February 2009
MaltaToday reveals that the St John’s Co-Cathedral Chapter of priests has taken a secret vote on the controversial extension, but the results have been kept under wraps by the Archdeacon, Mgr Philip Calleja – who is also the president of the Cathedral’s foundation. Individual canons who spoke to MaltaToday expressed their outright disagreement with the plans. A total of 25 canons and four honorary canons, a dean, precentor, treasurer and archpriest make up the Chapter.
12 February 2009
Just before the Opposition motion was due to be discussed in Parliament on Wednesday evening, the Archbishop and the Prime Minister release a joint statement announcing their decision to scrap the project as it was “dividing the Maltese public.”
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