The Ġgantija Temples and other sites are part of world heritage and should be protected, and not lost because of lack of action by authorities that should safeguard them, Nationalist Party leader Bernard Grech said,

Grech was visiting the temples in the days following a Planning Authority decision that will allow the building of a block of apartments overlooking the site, which was declared as world heritage by Unesco.

The green light to the “scandalous” project was a confirmation that the Planning Authority has become a “Department of Permits” while the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage has been weakened by the government in the last 10 years, he said.

He added that the government and the authorities responsible should take all action to eliminate risks that any development close to the temples could cause.

He reminded what the International Council of Monuments and Sites said about how government should seek the national interest first, given that such a development could have serious repercussions.