Flimkien Ghal Ambjent (FAA), together with the Malta Planners' Association, the Malta Touristic Association as well as Moviment Graffiti, have slammed what they described as touristic over-development that is taking place in St Julian’s.

The NGOs on Saturday held a press conference in front of the Sirdar House in Main Street, earmarked to be pulled down to make way for a three-star hotel.

The FAA, through its president Astrid Vella, said that it is the government’s duty to serve and protect the environment and in doing so it will be protecting and improving the quality of life of the Maltese citizens.

She quoted the constitution which states that “the State shall protect and conserve the environment and its resources for the benefit of present and future generations and shall take measures to address any form of environmental degradation in Malta, including that of air, water and land, and any sort of pollution problem and to promote, nurture and support the right of action in favour of the environment.”

“We are facing a cabal,” Vella said, accusing politicians of serving the developers who control the PA.

She said that the only action that the PA takes to preserve heritage is when it does not affect any developers.

However, she pointed out that in the case of Palazzino Vincenti, the PA has remained silent for three years.

Reacting to the plans which were submitted a year ago by hotelier Carlo Stivala to building a 14-storey hotel in place of Palazzino Vincenti, the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage had ruled that the property deserved to be scheduled.

Also, in reaction to the plans, the Emergency Conservation Order (ECO) was issued, which is valid until December 2022, because the property was considered a “heritage at risk”.

During this period the property is regarded as a Grade 1 scheduled property, which is the highest form of protection, until a full assessment is made to determine the real level of the property.

New plans were released last month, but these were basically the same plans which were submitted a year before, by architect Robert Musumeci.

She said that the FAA is also calling for more respect and recognition for the residents who live in St Julian’s.

On his last day as the mayor of St. Julian’s, Albert Buttigieg also spoke during the press conference to offer his support. Buttigieg has been elected as an MP in a casual election to replace the late Robert Arrigo, and will be taking his oath of office in Parliament on Monday.

He said that it was an insulting, arrogant statement to say that St Julian’s only has tourists and does not have residents.

“All of our homes are being destroyed by construction,” he said.

He pointed out that in the surrounding area there were around three or four applications for hotels to be built in an Urban Conservation Development (UCD) zone.

“Why is the PA not protecting these homes?” he asked.

Buttigieg further said that he is not against commercialism, but he is against the extremely aggressive nature of development that is taking place in St Julian’s which is damaging the community.

He finalised by saying that as a Member of Parliament he will continue to make his voice heard so that Malta will not become one construction site.