Adopting a hard-line approach against development would result in a “fossil Malta” and historic buildings being abandoned or destroyed, according to the Superintendent for Cultural Heritage.
“The general trends and policies all favour development,” Anthony Pace told the Times of Malta.
“A lot of people on the island have grasped that spirit, so we have to bridge the rights of the individual with the protection of historic sites.”
Dr Pace was speaking amid a series of accusations of inaction levelled at him over the development of a historic site in Mosta that some believe could contain underground features including a hypogeum.
Read: Mosta site has low archeological value – PA
Dr Pace said the site at Wesgħa tal-Ġganti, earmarked by AX Holdings for a showroom and an apartment block, had been extensively surveyed in 2013 and no archaeological features were found.
As a result, no monitoring of works was deemed necessary.
Silos and parts of a historic rubble wall visible in a video shot by environmental activists as work began this week, Dr Pace added, formed part of a separate, adjacent site and would be preserved in the course of development.
Earlier this week, the Democratic...
