Peticija je upućena: Malta's Prime Minister; Minister for Culture, Lands and Local Government; Planning Authority; Superintendence of Cultural Heritage

The Santa Verna Temple is one of Malta’s most important, yet unprotected archaeological sites. Only a few megaliths are visible today; however, recent excavations from the international FRAGSUS project revealed the remains of a five-apse temple dating to 3800 BCE. Across the surrounding plateau, which also includes Malta’s famous Ġgantija Temples and the Xagħra Circle hypogeum, archaeologists also unearthed remains of settlements dating back to c. 5400 BCE.

The limited buffer zone around the temple (established in 1998) did not adequately protect this unique and stunning archaeological landscape. Today, harmful constructions threaten thousands of years of untouched prehistory—prehistory that can shed light on one of the world’s most unique civilizations. Just 200 m west of the temple, appalling new stables scar the once-pristine land. Even more egregious is the situation facing the Ta’ Lablab ancient caves and Neolithic burial area 230 m north of the temple.

In 2012, a Cultural Heritage officer warned that parts of Ta’ Lablab overlapped the temple’s buffer zone and should be protected. Yet, in 2022, authorities approved the demolition of its beautiful cave system for a mere €5,000 Heritage “Gain” settlement.

Worse, after construction in Ta’ Lablab commenced, a local resident discovered a half-bulldozed pit filled with human bones and other remains scattered across the field by the machinery, confirmed by a specialist to be a Temple Period burial pit containing seven human skulls (mostly children’s).

Documents from Malta’s Environment Planning and Review Tribunal reveal that the assigned archaeological monitor supervising construction failed to report the human remains before the resident found them, clearly violating cultural heritage laws. If it were not for the local resident’s intervention, all traces of the site would have been bulldozed into oblivion.

Authorities should have taken immediate action to protect the site once the Neolithic burial pit was discovered: halting the works, expanding the temple’s buffer zone, and conducting a proper study of its ancient soil. Instead, they allowed applications for 19 maisonettes, jacuzzis, and a basement parking garage to proceed (PA/5171/23, PA/3174/23, and PA/02771/25). Meanwhile, a separate planning proposal for two new roads, one of which cuts through the temple’s buffer zone, had already been endorsed by a separate governmental department.

The damage extends beyond archaeology; the plateau’s ecosystem and biodiversity are also threatened. The area is home to hedgehogs, endemic Maltese wall lizards, chameleons, threatened bats, and flora such as endemic Maltese salt-trees and giant fennel. If Malta’s authorities do not immediately suspend the application permits and stop construction on Santa Verna’s plateau, ecological devastation will also ensue.