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15th February 2009

Press Release - The Experts DID decide the St. John's Project - 14th February 2009

Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar (FAA) welcomes the withdrawal of the St John's Foundation underground museum, a decision which was indicated years ago by the MEPA heritage experts when they stated "The concept of excavations in the vicinity of the cathedral would not be favourably considered due to the risk these might pose to the structure of one of Malta's foremost monuments and the art treasures within." FAA also welcomes the confirmation reported by correspondent Ivan Camilleri in Brussels that the EU funds earmarked for this project will not be lost, but go to another Maltese tourism-related project, as FAA has always maintained.(click here to read the full press release)

Along with architects and engineers who FAA consulted on this project, geologist Peter Gatt further reports some alarming facts about Valletta's soft rock (globigerina limestone) :

"Tension cracks in rocks (joints) would be expected to be common at the top of Sceberras Hill where St John's is located. If excavation exposes a sizeable joint oriented in a particular direction, an entire wedge of rock may fail, causing catastrophic damage to the Cathedral [similar to the] excavation of the Sliema car park, and Bugibba, when women died buried under rubble etc (click here to read the experts report)

31st January 2009

Open Letter to the PM on St. John's Co-Cathedral
& Opera House Site

VALLETTA – A Unique Opportunity to Get it Right

Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar and a number of patriotic citizens are to present an Open Letter to the Prime Minister, requesting a reconsideration of important decisions in the regeneration of Valletta, to relocate Parliament to the Opera House site, and the St. John's Co-Cathedral Foundation's plans to excavate an underground museum in St. John's Square and cover over its graveyard.

We welcome the holistic remodelling and regeneration of Valletta, from the Bus Terminus, City Gate and the Opera House site, down to Fort St. Elmo as well as the expansion of the Cathedral Museum but maintain that it should respect the social, cultural and religious values of Valletta's residents and tourists as well as the needs of the business community.

The excavation of St John's Square at least four storeys deep for the St John's Foundation underground museum is a threat to the stability of the Cathedral which will inflict years of dust, noise, vibration and heavy vehicle traffic on Valletta's residents, tourists and shops. Turning the St. John's grave-yard into a roofed-over visitors' centre including ticketing booths, large lifts and a souvenir shop is an unacceptable desecration of the last resting-place of the heroes of the Great Siege who gave up their lives to protect Christianity in Malta and Europe. The Environment Impact Assessment is already flawed however we are still in time to consider existing alternatives and save €16 which could be used for more urgent projects.

The Opera House site is a monument to the sacrifices our people made during our second great siege, World War II. Rather than an Opera house Malta needs a National Theatre for large productions such as concerts, musicals, ballets, drama and operas which cannot presently be staged for lack of adequate facilities. A National Theatre will promote culture, give our young performers a future and boost tourism all over Malta. A parliament on this site will achieve none of these, but could paralyse Valletta's commercial centre every time a state event or rally calls for security measures. The Maltese public has been promised the rebuilding of this theatre at every election and we count on this Government to honour its promises.

Read some of the people's comments beneath:

John Manduca, High Commissioner of Malta in London, 1987-1990, Founder Editor, Treasures of Malta : "Stop ruining our heritage"

Prof. Joe Friggieri, Head of the Philosophy Dept. at the University, poet, playwright and theatre director: "When I was Chairman, the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts, whose advice the government is legally bound to seek, had stated quite categorically that the site is not suitable for Parliament and that its location there would contribute to the death rather than the revival of the image and life of Valletta as a capital city. "It is also a known fact," the council said, "that Malta lacks a centre for the self-expression of our cultural identity as well as for the serious development of cultural tourism. Valletta deserves the best. The government is still in a position to revise its plans and respect the natural vocation of the old opera site by providing for its development as an adequate centre for the performing arts."

Joseph Calleja, International Tenor : "I appeal to the Prime Minister and his Cabinet to change course and forget Parliament House, and instead build an Opera House that will be the pride of the Maltese nation"

Paul Xuereb :"If this government goes ahead with its declared plans to build a parliament house on the sacred Teatru Rjal site, and to enable the St John's Cathedral Foundation to ignore all the protests and warnings regarding its intention to create a large museum under our prime historic monument, I shall have to join the growing band of people who accuse it of creeping arrogance."-

Peter Serracino Inglott : "Without entering into other aspects of the St John's Co-Cathedral project, it seems very strange that the investigation of the structural aspects of the underground development is not the first to be carried out. I find it an absolutely frightening prospect that anyone should be even thinking of removing the plinth in the cemetery or carrying out any other action which amounts to desecration of this holy, historic ground."

Nicholas de Piro : "I am not happy with Din l-Art Helwa's assessment of the situation at St. John's but I am delighted with the stand taken by the Very Reverend Chapter of the Metropolitan Cathedral.". (click here read more)

FAA's Stand on St. John's Co-Cathedral

CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE ONLINE PETITION 

The St. John’s Foundation has applied for MEPA Planning Permission to roof over the Co-Cathedral's cemetery where lie the heroes of the 1565 Great Siege for the installation of ticketing machines, two large lifts and a souvenir shop over the same cemetery. In order to expand its exhibition space to display the Co-Cathedral's Flemish tapestries and other collections, the Foundation plans to excavate a large underground museum stretching from Merchants’ Street to St. John’s Square, linking to the water cisterns near Republic Street. Lift shafts, passages and emergency exits will have to be excavated under the Cathedral to connect the crypt to the gallery.

Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar (FAA) disagrees with this project because the Foundation's plans will bring about the desecration of the cemetery and pose a huge risk to the stability of the Cathedral. Other digging in the vicinity of St. John's has already damaged Cathedral frescoes. The excavation of the museum will create a quarry at least four storeys deep and will cause years of disruption to Valletta, its residents, visitors and the business community.

This extravagant project is unsustainable since underground viewing chambers require a great amount of energy to operate, requiring enormous air-conditioning, dehumidifying and ventilation systems.

FAA also objects to this project because underground viewing chambers always run the risk of storm water and/or drainage flooding. This can be avoided if the Foundation chooses one of the many available options such as:

• Acquiring one of the dilapidated buildings in the immediate vicinity of the Co-Cathedral that could be restored to exhibit the religious artefacts, thus liberating space for the Flemish tapestries within the Cathedral museum;

• Moving offices and the laboratories out of the Cathedral to a nearby building;

• Reorganising the Museum to make better use of underutilised space;

• Hanging the Flemish tapestries in the Great Hall of the Sacra Infermeria, which not only offers the right proportions and the right Baroque setting, but would start to regenerate lower Valletta;

• Hang the Flemish tapestries where they were always meant to hang historically – within the Cathedral from the feast of Corpus Christi to the Feast of St John. The rest of the year they would be placed in storage to rest as is done in other museums all over the world.

The Foundation’s project has been objected to by the MEPA Planning Directorate, the Catholic Church Heritage Commission, the Valletta and Floriana Rehabilitation Committee, Valletta Local Council, Friends of the Earth (Malta) and the GRTU. FAA cannot accept that the St. John’s Foundation is to undertake a project costing €16 million when simpler and much less costly alternatives exist. Choosing one of these would mean that the rest of the funding could be used for the urgent restoration of Forts St. Elmo and St. Angelo which are in a dire state of neglect and deterioration. The restoration and re-use of these monuments would have the added social benefit of regenerating a depressed area.

If you agree with the above please spare a minute to add your name to that of thousands of others by CLICKING HERE

30th January 2009

St. John's Project - A Great Disservice - Press Release - 12/01/2009

Mgr Calleja insists that the Foundation puts the interests of St. John's Co-Cathedral first. Besides the fact that if allowed, the project will be putting the Cathedral and the underground passages at risk, should not a Foundation that is made up of Church and State also be considering the good of all of Valletta, its residents, tourists and business community?

Are these best served by a development that will create a hole the size of a quarry, ripping up the newly-laid paving, damaging the underground passages and inflicting noise, dust, and heavy vehicles shaking Valletta's foundations for years? (click here to read more)

A New Valletta - Press Release - 07/01/2009