NGO calls for ‘immediate’ resignation of heritage chief after approval of Fort Chambray barracks demolition

Heritage NGO Din L-Art Ħelwa (DLĦ) called for the “immediate” resignation of the Superintendent for Cultural Heritage, Kurt Farrugia, over his failure to secure the preservation of Fort Chambray’s British barracks after developers successfully applied for permission to dismantle and demolish most of the historical building.

The demolition of the historical British barracks in Fort Chambray, one of the most iconic landmarks visible upon entering Gozo’s Mġarr Harbour, was the subject of an appeal before the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal (EPRT) after NGOs attempted to overturn its approval.

In addition to seeking demolition of the barracks, the developers behind the Fort Chambray project will also build a luxury residential complex within the fort’s walls.

The EPRT’s decision to confirm the Planning Authority’s (PA) approval of these plans, DLĦ argues, “is the result of two decades of deliberate neglect and institutional failure”, explicitly adding that “DLĦ holds the Superintendent directly responsible for this latest heritage catastrophe”.

“This decision is an insult to the very concept of European heritage protection. It comes barely two months after the British Barracks at Fort Chambray were included in Europa Nostra’s prestigious list of the 7 Most Endangered Heritage Sites in Europe for 2026, a nomination submitted by Din l-Art Ħelwa itself,” the NGO said.

On Thursday, The Telegraph reported the loss of colonial heritage, the latest of several prominent British newspapers to pick up on the issue.

DĦL said: “That listing was an urgent red flag from the continent’s largest heritage network, warning that this unique site faced ‘imminent and irreversible damage’. The EPRT has chosen to ignore that warning and sanction the very destruction the European heritage community is rallying to prevent.”

DLĦ’s call for Superintendent Farrugia’s resignation is based on the heritage watchdog’s failure to schedule the fort and its buildings as Grade 1 and Grade 2 monuments, as well as “ignoring” a request from NGOs to issue an emergency conservation order for the barracks.

“This is not an isolated lapse; it is a pattern of failure spanning nearly two decades, from the 2005 scheduling omission to the recent refusal of an emergency order, culminating now in the effective sanctioning of the mutilation of the only 19th century British Barracks on the island of Gozo,” the statement adds, describing Farrugia’s tenure as “incompatible” with the protection of Malta’s cultural heritage.

The NGO added that it is now assessing the EPRT’s decision and pursuing all legal and administrative options to reverse the decision and prevent the further formalisation of the fort, which currently consists of an odd mismatch of parcels of modern private development and poorly preserved historical buildings.

Fort Chambray has been in such neglect for two decades after the government had privatised the fort to turn it into a luxury development in the late 90s.

Despite the former owner of the concession, developer Michael Caruana, failing to meet the conditions of that concession by being unable to cough up the promised investment in the site, both major parties voted in favour of allowing Caruana to transfer public land for private development.

Now, the consortium behind this venture, represented by a company named BBT Gozo Fort Ltd, consists of Francesco Grima, known as il-Gigu, a close friend of Planning Authority and Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri, Vince Borg of road contractors V&C, better known as Ċensu in-Nizz, Ninu Fenech and his sons from TUM Invest, Oliver Brownrigg of the BT Group, and Mario Gauci of Burmarrad Commercials.

At the time, Opposition Leader Alex Borg was one of the PN’s MPs on the parliamentary committee that approved the transfer of public land in the Fort Chambray site, even earning himself a reprimand from the Standards Commissioner for misleadingly claiming that costs for restoring the fort would be passed on to developers when they were actually going to be paid for by the taxpayer.

The prospects of staving off plans to continue building a luxury apartment complex within Fort Chambray appear slim.

Even if NGOs successfully file an appeal against the EPRT’s decision in court, the government’s decision to ignore the NGOs’ proposed planning reforms means developers could start building while the appeal is heard, a process that often takes years.