The Gozo heritage society Wirt Ghawdex has expressed its preoccupation at the readiness with which the Malta Environment and Planning Authority grants permits for development in areas of known archaeological significance on the island.

The recent approval of an application for the construction of a two-storey building with a pool in the vicinity of the Xaghra Stone Circle is a case in point.

So also is the Waste Transfer Station, which is to be sited in a disused quarry outside Xewkija. Excavations carried out by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage and the Department of Archaeology of the University of Malta in the area known as Ghar ix-Xih, just a few metres away from the site, have now confirmed the presence of important archaeological remains dating back to classical times.

In both cases it is vital that the authority reviews its position, before it is too late.