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local
news
One guard for two sites ensures vandals
have a field day
It is
truly sad to note that the vandals have been much more effective
at the Mnajdra temples than the authorities – Evarist Bartolo
Miriam
Dunn
Some 60 megalithic stones at the Mnajdra prehistoric temple site
were damaged on the night of Good Friday in what was described by
a museums department official as the worst criminal act ever inflicted
on Maltese heritage.
It is suspected that the vandals may have been participating in
Satanic rites.
Culture minister Louis Galea admitted that there had been just one
guard on duty during the night in question, who was responsible
for both the Hagar Qim temples, about half a kilometre up the hill
from the vandalised megaliths, and the Mnajdra site.
Asked to comment on the fact that the temples were evidently not
guarded sufficiently – an issue that has repeatedly been raised
in the media, especially since they have been damaged before –
Dr Galea conceded that their supervision was already now under review,
but he still raised doubts about where the funds for this would
come from.
"A lot of reflection is obviously needed now," he told
MaltaToday. "We were already revising our staffing levels because
of the thefts of the paintings from the museum, but obviously this
latest incident gives us an even greater sense of urgency. It is
also important to note that we are thinking not only in terms of
human resources, meaning security guards, but also electronic devices.
But finding the money for this is still an issue."
Museums department staff, who alerted the Zurrieq police on discovering
the vandalism, said damage had been sustained primarily to the upper
part of the temple, where the vandals cut through a fence and overturned
the megaliths, broke some and etched the stones with Satanic markings
and other graffiti. The lower part of the temple has also sustained
some damage.
"After all the time and effort we have made studying these
stones for accuracy, something like this happens," one staff
member said, visibly distressed.
Shadow culture minister Evarist Bartolo lamented the vandalism,
but laid the blame squarely on the shoulders of the authorities.
"I, and many others, have long been highlighting the fact that
the temples are not guarded at night," he said. "It is
truly sad to note that the vandals have been much more effective
than the authorities with what they have done to these temples,
which are not only part of Malta's history, but also part of the
world heritage."
Mr Bartolo said he was always being told that the government was
studying a system to ensure the temples were guarded sufficiently,
but this had never been followed up and now the price had been paid.
Asked what the consequences of the damage could be for Malta from
a cultural and historical aspect, the MLP spokesman said they were
"terrible".
"Perhaps we can tolerate the authorities' failure to rehabilitate
the sites around our temples and make the areas more attractive
to visitors, but to not even ensure they are adequately protected
is completely unacceptable," he said.
The Culture minister, meanwhile, said the ministry and the museums
department had started the painstaking steps of repairing the damage
to the temples, by setting in motion the procedure to appoint specialised
personnel in the field to lift the stones back up.
"The slight consolation we have is that the stones have fallen
down under their original placing, so they will just need lifting
back," he said.
The Mnajdra prehistoric temples date back to between 3600 - 2500
BC and, along with Malta's other temples, are considered the oldest
surviving freestanding stone structures in the world.
The curving monuments, built before Egypt's great pyramids, stand
in groupings across the island.
Constructed of durable coralline and softer globigerina limestone,
the Mnajdra temples, along with others in the immediate area, reveal
much about the western world's earliest construction methods.
A recent convening of preservation agencies, including representatives
from UNESCO, stressed the urgency for physical consolidation of
the sites. The megalithic temples of Malta were placed on the World
Heritage List in 1998.
Police are investigating Friday night's vandalism, while Duty Magistrate
Consuelo Scerri Herrera appointed court experts, including an expert
in the Occult, to carry out an inquiry.
Additional reporting: Nadine Brincat, David Lindsay photos by Paul
Blandford
Editorial
comment
Shame on you
Mnajdra is to Malta, what the Pyramids are to Egypt, the Mona Lisa
to Paris, the Coliseum to Rome and Stonehenge to England.
In the seventies, a private quarry exploded dynamite in the area
causing irreparable damage to Mnajdra.
In the early nineties a university group changed Mnajdra into an
open discotheque, in the mid-nineties a small group of irresponsible
hunters daubed paint on the temples.
Over the ages, Mnajdra has suffered from erosion, destruction but
worst of all, vandalism and indifference.
All through the years, most politicians have watched, expressed
remorse, but done little else.
The Culture minister's statement reproduced above does nothing to
change the fact that the Hagar Qim and Mnajdra temples had ONE LONE
watchman to watch out for potential vandals.
This is a complete scandal.
More so when we see a government laden with advisers, consultants,
committees and public officials.
Three extra wardens will cost this government Lm15,000 more a year.
In another country, the press and public opinion would call for
a minister to reconsider his position. We will only hear this from
the opposition.
But this situation is untenable.
The lack of interest shown in securing the protection of the temples
should be a priority of this and any government.
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