10 years after restoration… access to Simblija still restricted

Ten years after a €43,000 restoration project in the archaeological site of is-Simblija was inaugurated, agricultural leases around this historical site still have to be terminated and the historical site still has to be transferred to the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage.

The restored site was officially inaugurated in February 2003 but ramblers still complain that access to passages leading to this site is still blocked.

Labour MP Leo Brincat, who tabled a parliamentary question to Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino, raised this issue in parliament.

In his Parliamentary Question, Brincat asked, "What is the situation with regards to access to passages which have existed since mediaeval times which are threatened by a particular family?"

Replying to Brincat's PQ, George Pullicino confirmed that the project was co-financed through an €115,000 grant from the EU's Raphael Project.

He also confirmed back in 2003 'farmers' who were using part of the mediaeval chapel and the cave of the restored windmill had two garages constructed for them by the government so that they could be relocated.

According to Pullicino the farmers in questions hold an agricultural lease on agricultural land surrounding the historical sites.

Nationalist MP Philip Mifsud also raised the issue of access to the site in another parliamentary question.

Minister Jason Azzopardi whose portfolio includes public land. confirmed  that the site indicated by Mifsud formed part of a tenement owned by the government but leased as an agricultural holding.

According to Azzopardi the government was no longer accepting payment of rent from the tenant as it intends to transfer parts of this property to the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage.

But the government was still "deciding which part of the land will have its lease terminated".

For the past decade ramblers have been denouncing lack of access to this mediaeval site.

Writing in MaltaToday in August, rambler Alan C. Bonnici asked: "Why, almost 10 years after the matter was publicly reported, is-Simblija is still littered with threatening and illegal signage that deter people from getting to the place?"

Bonnici denounced that this place sits in a state of under use, unable to meet its potential of serving as a recreational and educational site for both locals and tourists.