Regarding the statements made today by the St. John's Foundation and Din l-Art Helwa, both bodies fail to mention the fact that the St. John's underground project has been slammed by MEPA.

Having seen the updated St. John's project files at MEPA, Flimkien g?al Ambjent A?jar can inform the public that in a letter to the St. John's Foundation, MEPA's Planning Director has dubbed the project to excavate St. John's Street and Square a "non starter" due to the risk of potential damage to the foundations of St John's Cathedral and reminded the architect that a number of heritage protection entities had already recommended that another building in Valletta be used for the Foundation's expansion requirements.

As for comments regarding breaking up the collection, we maintain that expansion requirements of several other major museums in the world have required extensions in different parts of a city or even country. In the case of St. John's, it is not even a case of breaking up the collection in different locations, as the empty palazzos that could accommodate an extension are literally within feet of St. John's. Documented research has recently shown that the area around St. John's has one of the highest concentrations of subterranean spaces in Valletta. Unlike other old cities, Valletta's sewers are unique in that they were designed as a network even before most of the buildings were erected. The Knights' period sewers therefore have a priceless heritage value that cannot on any account be damaged in order to excavate exhibition space that can easily be created in alternative sites.

FAA therefore reiterates and confirms its stand against both proposals for the reasons given above, and also for the reasons outlined in our previous statement which are listed below:

St John's Co-Cathedral is already functioning successfully as a museum therefore there is no justification to violate the clauses of its National Monument Grade I scheduling in order to stay open: "Buildings of outstanding architectural or historical interest that shall be preserved in their entirety. Demolition or alterations which impair the setting or change the external or internal appearance, including anything contained within the curtilage of the building, will not be allowed. Internal structural alterations will only be allowed in exceptional circumstances where this is paramount for reasons of keeping the building in active use." As such St. John's cannot be tampered with, and especially not for financial gain.

The excavation of St. John's Street and Square will cause irremediable damage to the remains of a Knight's palace there. Valletta's underground chambers, tunnels, channels and water cisterns are 16th century engineering treasures, and as such they should be mapped out, studied and preserved, and not damaged and exploited.

Feasible alternatives exist for the extension of the required museum space such as the acquisition of a deteriorating palazzo. This option would not only serve to restore the building and enrich Valletta but has the added advantage of relieving St John's Co-Cathedral of the heavy influx of visitors, allowing the Foundation to accept more visitors and increase its earnings.

A study to maximise space within St. John's might find space to hang the Gobelins tapestries within the Cathedral or museum while other exhibits like church vestments and manuscripts can be moved elswhere.

Re. the EU programmes on sustainable tourism and competitiveness, due to aspects of dehumidifying and cooling underground chambers, the project is environmentally unsustainable and carries an element of risk for the Gobelins Tapestries. St. John's Cathedral does not need to enter the frenetic world of competitiveness since most visitors to Malta are already paying visitors to the Cathedral.

These projects are potentially very damaging not only to our heritage but also to our communal values; do we really want ticketing booths and a visitors' centre (or possibly worse) in the graveyard of the Knights?

These applications also go directly against the Mepa Structure Plan which 'acknowledges the special status of Valletta as a UNESCO World Heritage site and nominates Valletta as the principal beneficiary of the establishment of Urban Conservation Policies the basic objective being to preserve and enhance all buildings, spaces, townscape and landscape which are of architectural or historical interest and generally to safeguard areas of high environmental quality'.

FAA maintains that both these applications should be refused irrespective of the acquisition of EU funding which will lead to the exploitation the prime monument in Valletta and damage to Valletta's subterranean heritage when other feasible and simple alternatives exist as not only suggested by FAA, but also by other entities and the MEPA Planning Directorate.

Anyone interested in protecting this national monument can object to MEPA automatically by accessing www.ambjentahjar.org

Flimkien g?al Ambjent A?jar