Protect Santa Verna site from greedy developers, small party leaders tell authorities

Arnold Cassola and Sandra Gauci called for urgent action to protect the Santa Verna archaeological area in Xagħra, warning that unchecked development is destroying Malta’s cultural heritage.

ADPD leader Sandra Gauci said authorities are failing to safeguard the country’s history, allowing greed and profit to override cultural preservation.

“Whoever cannot take care of their past should not be trusted with your future,” Gauci said during a speech on Saturday. She accused regulators of turning a blind eye as developers destroy historic sites, sometimes selling them “for €5,000,” and condemned what she described as a culture where “everything is for sale, everything has a price, and nothing has value.”

Gauci highlighted the loss of traditional Maltese villages, where colourful wooden balconies and stone houses are increasingly replaced by “anonymous, grey apartment blocks.” She warned that Gozo risks becoming “a smaller copy of Malta,” stripped of its identity.

Her remarks came during an event focused on protecting Santa Verna, a Neolithic site near the Ġgantija Temples. Activists say the area is under threat from plans to build 18 houses with swimming pools.

Momentum chairperson Arnold Cassola, who also took part in the activity, said bulldozing in the area had already led to the destruction of archaeological remains. He noted that “at least the skulls of seven children” had been recovered from one burial pit alone.

“It is amazing how the authorities have allowed the Gozitan triad of Joseph Portelli, Mark Agius and Daniel Refalo to continue with their destructive plans,” Cassola said.

He warned that short-term profits for a few developers were putting at risk far greater long-term economic and cultural benefits. Cassola pointed to the tens of millions generated for Gozo’s economy through heritage tourism linked to the Ġgantija Temples.

“The potential of the Xagħra area for archaeological tourism is immense,” he said, noting its concentration of historic sites, including the Xagħra Circle, Ninu’s Cave and Ta’ Xerri Grotto.

Both Gauci and Cassola called for immediate action, including an emergency conservation order for the Santa Verna site and surrounding caves, independent archaeological monitoring of development, and the recovery and study of unearthed remains.

“This is what makes us a community,” Gauci said. “The ability to see value in these things is what also helps us to have a better quality of life.”