[WATCH] Stop Santa Lucija tunnel works until archaeological remains evaluated, residents say

A group of Santa Lucija residents have called on Infrastructure Malta to temporarily suspend works on the Santa Lucija tunnel project until an evaluation of archaeological remains discovered in the area is completed.

“In order to ensure public accountability and transparency, the network calls on the authorities to publish details, such as age of the remains, number of tombs and type of structures, found so far,” the Save Santa Lucija Open Spaces Network said.

Representatives from archaeological NGOs and the media should also be permitted to see the remains, the group said.  

It said it expressed “its deep appreciation for the professional work being undertaken by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage to investigate and evaluate the findings”.

“The Network is also concerned by the fact that Infrastructure Malta did not inform the public when these archaeological remains were first discovered. Were it not for civic-minded citizens who alerted the Network about these findings, the public would still be in the dark.”  

Yesterday, the Infrastructure Malta confirmed the discovery of archaeological remains, which it said were being evaluated by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage. Infrastructure Malta said that as a result of the discovery, some minor alterations to the project’s plans had been made.

It said that a new entrance would also be installed in order to allow for the site to be studied, and possibly visited by members of the public, after the project has been completed. The equipment being used to excavate had been changed in order to prevent any damage to the remains.