‘We will not let anybody walk over us’

“

When they told me I could not come here, I could not stay quiet - I could not enter here when the British were

Cottonera residents braved the inclement weather on Sunday morning to protest against the proposed development of a new wing and dormitory for the American University of Malta, with residents warning the university that they would not take things lying down and would continue to make their voices heard.

The AUM had plans to extend its campus into a derelict building which is known as the Knights’ Building on the old dock front, turning it into an educational institution by making internal alterations and constructing an additional floor in steel and glass over and above the building’s current height, while also building a new wing, which photomontages showed would block the view of Senglea’s St Michael’s Gate.

The Planning Authority Board, however, voted to overturn the case officer’s recommendation to approve the extension on 27 September, indicating that it would reject the application. A final decision on the project will be taken on 21 November, while new plans for an especially controversial dormitory are yet to be resubmitted.

Some 100 people, mostly Cottonera residents – with the Isla yellow and red colours dominant on some – gathered at the Macina on the Senglea waterfront, and then in the area where a new wing is being proposed, calling for their voices to be heard and for the government and the Planning Authority to listen to their concerns.

Joseph Tonna, a doctor by profession and Senglean born and bred, said that the protest was not of a partisan nature or to point fingers at anyone: “I am here because I love my country,” he said.

“I never went into politics, and I have no intention of doing so; but when I saw that those who are meant to defend Senglea’s interests kept their mouths shut, I could not do the same,” he told the crowd.

“When they told me I could not come here, I could not stay quiet – I could not enter here when the British were here,” Tonna said as chants of Viva L-Isla rang out from those present.

Access to the area outside the Macina was restricted on 18 October when a truck turned up and began digging holes for the placement of bollards. Access was only restored a week later after negotiations with the Senglea local council – something which Tonna lamented, saying that now there must be negotiations for the public to access land which was theirs.

He praised government MP Glenn Bedingfield, who first led the charge against the extension and dormitory; “were it not for him, us Sengleans would have remained in the dark,” he said.

“Senglea is known as Citta Invicta and our forefathers shed their blood to defend her against the invasion of the Turks as well as in World War 2, during which Senglea was the most bombarded city in the world,” he said.

“Now the Jordanians of AUM have taken, or we have given them, this prime land without any Sengleans raising their voice,” he lamented.

However, Tonna issued a rallying cry: “We will not be a walkover for anybody. Let us not go down in history as the ones who were passive; let us give it a good fight, and if they do it anyway, at least we can say in our conscience that we did our best,” he said to more cheers and applause.

“No developer – neither Maltese nor Jordanian – should be allowed to mess with Cottonera if not to restore it,” he said while also praising the restoration project planned for Senglea’s St Michael’s Gate.

“We aren’t demanding anything special; we just want good sense to reign. I have faith in Joseph’s Muscat government and the Planning Authority to listen to us - we want a government which listens,” he said

One resident responded to this, shouting from within the mass of people: “Joseph Muscat told us that we had been forgotten; now we have been kicked!”

The remark prompted Tonna to say that most of the Sengleans were Labour supporters and would likely remain as such as it is ‘in their blood’ – “but they cannot offend our intelligence,” he said.

Tonna called on everyone to be present on 21 November at the Planning Authority, when the final decision on the proposed project will be taken.

It was also announced that 1,800 signatures against the project had been gathered by Azzjoni Tuna Artna Lura, with more residents signing the petition during and after the protest, and with Andrea

Dibben from the action group appealing to more people to sign the petition.

The Planning Authority board indicated that it would refuse the application for the extensions, citing the loss of open space due to a proposed office block which will be built over a recently inaugurated open stairs area, and the effect that a new wing to the Knights’ Building will have on the views of the Senglea fortifications, with photomontages indicating that the new wing would have covered the view of St Michael’s Gate as seen from Cospicua as reasons for the refusal.

A final vote on the project will take place on 21 November. AUM are yet to submit revised plans for the extension. A block of dormitories outside St Michael’s Gate was removed from the application last August, with the PA telling AUM to go back to the drawing board and return in six months with a better design and a separate application. That application is yet to be filed, but new designs were presented at the hearing for the extension.