A recent letter by the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage (The Times, 1st September) and an article in The Independent on Sunday (11th September) highlight once again the beginning of the end of part of an extensive underground network of wartime shelters and other heritage sites in Hamrun. The fate of these structures, which are protected by both the Heritage Act and Mepa regulations, was first highlighted in the media in The Times of 9 August.
What is at risk, however, is not just the one single solitary war-time shelter that got in the way during some unauthorised partial excavation some years ago, which was eventually stopped by an enforcement notice by Mepa itself. This shelter is part of a whole inter-connected network of underground shelters (under several private residences in the block) that connect with the public shelters underneath the roadside pavements at least as far as Vincenzo Bugeja Street on the opposite side of Hamrun. Copies of the original plans of some of these were sent to Mepa, Hamrun Local council and the Superintendence, as well as to whoever was in charge of the building site in question. This did not prove strong enough evidence to stop the unauthorised partial excavation of the site, resulting in the damage of a heritage site.
What are also at stake are more protected underground heritage sites.
The area now known as Hamrun was originally known as San Giuseppe up to the late 1880s, when it was renamed Hamrun “mil culur u il ‘quantita tal hamria” (because of its colour and the quantity of its soil), it being agricultural land. Who has not heard of the well-known Maltese tongue-twister? Castagna’s account in Storia Ta Malta is ample evidence. Copies of old maps of Malta dating back to the 1600s show San Giuseppe as lying between scattered settlements in Casal Curmi (Qormi) and La Marza (Marsa). Since the prosperity of any agricultural community depended upon the availability of good quality water supplies, cisterns have been excavated in rocks and used to store rainwater since time immemorial. Such cisterns have been found all over the island dating back to mediaeval, Roman, punic and even to neolithic times. The reservoir was usually bigger and adjacent reservoirs could be connected to each other by tunnels. Later on, the Wignacourt Aqueduct, the construction of which began in 1610, helped transport water all the way to the new city of Valletta from natural springs and sources in the hilly region behind Mdina. A short distance away from Hamrun, (the then San Giuseppe) the line of arches turned at a right angle across the highway to proceed along the right-hand side of the street down to the area around present-day High Street, St Venera and Hamrun. The Wignacourt aqueduct continued to provide a lifeline for the towns and cities of Attard, Lija, Balzan, Mosta, Zebbug, Hamrun, Qormi, Floriana and Valletta throughout the 17th and 18th centuries.
The official green light given in May by the DCC for further excavation (PA05495/02) is on the same side of the road (and in a very low lying area) in close proximity to where this underground aqueduct and numerous underground water reservoirs and cisterns (some of which still may still be functional) are situated. Only a few years ago, excavations in a nearby block unearthed an underground water reservoir with serious consequences for the immediate vicinity. Not only are the presence of these cisterns not a figment of anyone’s imagination, but such a cistern was apparently also found at the site in question. A Mepa case officer report after the unauthorised excavation took place mentions the following as one of a number of reasons for recommending refusal (and here we quote):
“The proposal would likely affect archaeological features present on site. These consist of a bell-shaped cistern, linked to an extensive labyrinth of war-time shelter galleries. Structure Plan policy ARC 3 seeks to protect sites/areas of archaeological importance and sites which have potential archaeological remains.”
And just a few feet away, a few years back, a large bell shaped cistern was also found underneath our very own property itself. The presence of other such cisterns underneath any of the other buildings adjacent to the partly excavated site cannot be discounted.
In the recent publicity given to the Roman remains in Marsa, mention was made of Museum Annual Reports (1947) regarding five Roman tombs found “in the field opposite the Civil Abattoir at Marsa,” within 20 metres to the east of the Roman remains in question. Mepa’s spokesperson continued that: “This implies that the area was one of intense activity”. It also included burial sites and most probably a settlement, the location of which is still unknown. The remains that were recently re-discovered near the Marsa Canal had already been discovered on 24 January 1956. In our old copies of much earlier Annual Museum reports (1930/1931), there is mention of a rock tomb uncovered at Hamrun in “Via Casal Curmi” where fragments of human bones, amphorae and an unguentarium were found. In a 1936/37 report, extensive detail is given to the discovery of three rock tombs dating from the late Roman period “while widening the road leading from Hamrun to Qormi”.
The Heritage Act gives the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage very specific legal rights and duties over the “life and death” of such sites, be they found on private or public property. Reparation of any damage done to such a site has to be carried out under its own supervision. Severe penalties are laid down for anyone who damages such sites or makes a declaration for any of the purposes of this Act "which is false, misleading or incorrect in any material respect". Recent questions in Parliament upheld in no uncertain manner the provisions of the Heritage Act. It is also specific about the rights and duties of local councils in such matters.
In fact, the Superintendent, in another letter to The Times of 8 September, when referring to the archaeological remains elsewhere on the island, remarked that: “The role of local councils in managing their heritage is a vital one. The reform of the heritage sector introduced several possibilities by which local authorities and NGOs could participate in the care and management of Malta’s vast heritage.”
Several documents, including copies of old and new maps of Malta and Hamrun with plans of the aqueduct, war-time shelters, old museum department reports and original documentation from Castagna’s Storia Di Malta and Abela Ciantar’s Malta Illustrata, have been sent to all concerned bodies, including Mepa and the Superintendence. To date, after a saga lasting several years, we are still awaiting some sort of active and visible action in favour of our endangered heritage from the latter, as well as from the Labour-led Hamrun local council, MPs from both major political parties and the heritage groups who consider themselves the official custodians of our national heritage.
While our prime minister was seen last weekend admiring the new pavement around the aqueduct, and the leader of the opposition has urged his party’s local counsellors to “give out a clear signal that they will be working to make a difference in their localities”, they both seem to be blissfully oblivious of the imminence of yet another sanctioned outrage to our battered heritage just half a kilometre away.
It had to be AD, Malta’s green party, to yet again take the initiative in the form of a recent press release showing their grave concern at the granting by Mepa of a permit (PA05495/02) that clearly infringes the Heritage Act and in so doing makes a “mockery of the whole Authority and undermining the sterling work carried out by dedicated case officers and other professional staff who on a daily basis, have to analyse in detail and make appropriate recommendations on development applications. Assurance by Mepa that its enforcement officers will only ensure activity which is permitted is not enough, as bitter past experience has demonstrated”.
Is this the way the laws of the land safeguarding our National Heritage are officially observed in this erstwhile “jewel in the Mediterranean” that is now officially a modern EU member?
Sergio and Doreen
Galea Vincenti.
Hamrun