Demolishing an archaeologically sensitive Marsaxlokk farmhouse was "the lesser of two evils," Superintendent of Cultural Heritage Kurt Farrugia told Times of Malta after machinery was seen demolishing the vernacular structure.
Footage shot by Marsaxlokk residents on Wednesday shows what appears to be a claw crane tearing through stones and soil in a rural part of the locality on Triq iż-Żejtun.
Permission was granted to remove “dangerous parts of an existing collapsed building” through a dangerous structures permit, however the permit was issued with the condition that masonry should be numbered and preserved for the eventual reconstruction of the building.
“All masonry blocks are to be numbered carefully on the hidden sides for both position and orientation. These must be cross-referenced to official scaled drawings to facilitate the eventual reconstruction of the building,” the permit reads.
“The building is to be carefully dismantled by hand and all the serviceable stonework is to be stored so as to be reintegrated in the eventual reconstruction of the building.”
Superintendence 'mistake'
Farrugia said that these conditions had been “mistakenly” left in the issued permit...
