Since Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar is the main NGO that has spoken openly against the extravagant St. John’s Foundation expansion project, we refer to Mons. Philip Calleja’s statement to the media of Saturday the 15th of November.

This is not the first time that the St. John’s Foundation has claimed NGOs are basing themselves on “inaccurate claims”. We wish to point out that all the information on which Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar has based its arguments has been obtained from MEPA files and the information supplied by the Foundation itself during its project presentation. It is strange that the Foundation has never specified or substantiated these vague claims of inaccuracies on FAA’s part.

On the other hand, we do find inaccuracies in the Foundation’s repeated claims that no excavation is to take place within the St. John’s Cathedral complex, when the Foundation’s own plans clearly show two large lifts to be sunk into the subterranean, as well as corridors linking the Cathedral to the enormous underground gallery to be excavated in front of St. John’s Cathedral.

The proposed extension risks damaging the Co-Cathedral’s fabric and ignores the damage the excavation of a quarry in the centre of Valletta will inevitably inflict on Valletta’s unique historic underground tunnel systems, as well as its impact on the fabric of our old capital, its residents, tourists and commercial community. In a time of financial crisis, a costly Environment Impact Assessment and an extravagant project costing €16million that has no social, restoration or regeneration contribution is not acceptable from a Foundation which is public in nature, being a joint endeavour of Church and State.

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