Clashes with an individual claiming private ownership of paths and a medieval settlement in Simblija, limits of Dingli, have led farmers to call for the agricultural lease to be renegotiated, ensuring access to all.
The area, which includes fields and the important historic site and public pathways, has, since 1993, been designated as one tenement split between nine farmers who have the right to use the land.
The Times of Malta is informed that eight of the farmers have now written to the government asking for the heritage site and pathways to be extrapolated from the lease and the lease on the remaining area to be renegotiated.
The move would ensure access both for the farmers and for members of the public, who for years have been embroiled in a saga with Noel Ciantar, another farmer in the area, who says the land, leased from the government, is his private property.
Two farmers who spoke to this newspaper said they had for years been intimidated and denied access to their fields by Mr Ciantar. They said that on repeated occasions they had been confronted aggressively by Mr Ciantar and also found access to their areas barred or the entrances chained.
Members of the public,...
