Partit Demokratiku questions Superintendent of Cultural Heritage’s silence

Partit Demokratiku has questioned how the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage, Anthony Pace, has remained silent about the party has called an “assault on Malta’s identity”.

Under Pace’s supervision, his office has allowed for the Planning Authority to approve a number of applications, which PD claimed desecrated Malta’s heritage and identity, lamenting on the Superintendent’s inaction against the Kercem development application, which threatened the Roman Catacombs of Gozo.

PD said that the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage had been compromised and reduced to rubber stamp for development applications.

“With case after case abandoned by the Superintendent, such as the vernacular houses of Zebbug, the Sliema Cloisters, Blackley's Bakery in Pieta` and countless other cases, the Partit Demokratiku voices the concerns of the general public and civil society,” PD said in a statement.

Partit Demokratiku mentioned that the Superintendent has to date taken no stand against the possible development of the archaeological site at il-Wesgha tal-Ġganti in Mosta. “He has merely recommended that monitoring takes place during the works themselves,” PD said, adding that the result of this application would be known by 10 July.

“Partit Demokratiku considers this as a final test of the Superintendent’s reputation, particularly in light of the Roman Catacombs fiasco.”

PD questioned Pace’s credibility as Superintendent of Cultural Heritage, urging the public to scrutinise the motivations behind his decisions.

PD invited civil society to always seek common ground in “protecting Malta’s heritage in the absence of properly functioning institutions.”