Government initiates talks on Ta’ Hagrat expropriation compensation

The government has initiated talks with the landowners who were stopped from developing a site metres away from the Ta’ Hagrat temples in Mgarr after MEPA approved a development permit.

To stop the development and safeguard the temples, the government expropriated the piece of land belonging to the owners and is now in talks to establish the compensation that should be given to the owners.

Addressing parliament this evening, the parliamentary secretary for planning Michael Falzon said the meeting with the owners was held last week.

“The expropriation process is ongoing and last week we met the owners to start discussing the compensation amount,” Falzon said.

The House of Representatives this evening discussed a parliamentary motion presented by the Nationalist Opposition calling on the government to expropriate the plot of land. The motion was presented before the Cabinet decided to expropriate the piece of land.

MPs agreed that the parliamentary discussion should still be held and stressed the importance of safeguarding the Maltese Islands’ cultural and architectural heritage.

Nationalist MP Ryan Callus, who filed the motion, said the motion was not only about protecting Ta’ Hagrat but also other sites.

“MEPA and the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage must ensure that a repetition of the Ta’ Hagrat saga is avoided. This requires an analysis of the land surrounding these heritage sites and ensure that lands adjacent to the temples do not fall in development zones,” Callus said.

Taking the floor, PN MPs Censu Galea and Mario de Marco and Labour MP Silvio Parnis insisted that protecting sites of historic value should not be limited at issuing conservation orders but maintenance should be ensured.

According to de Marco – an advice supported by Minister Owen Bonnici – the best form of maintenance was through use of the sites by NGOs. De Marco also urged government to invest in cultural hubs in order to truly regenerate historic sites.

On his part, Bonnici said the government was giving the sector its due importance.

“This government has taken up its task as member of the UNESCO extremely seriously and the work is evident,” he said, citing the government’s decision to set up a technical committee on cultural heritage as one example.