Just in: Madonna tal-Aħrax statue to be moved away from dangerous rock fissures

The Madonna tal-Ahrax statue was dismantled and stored in a complex in Floriana in order to prevent further damage, the Restoration and Preservation Department told Nationalist Party MPs Ivan Castillo and Robert Cutajar.

In 2022, Castillo made a call to action to save the Madonna tal-Ahrax statue, which was built in 1870 and was in danger of collapsing or suffering damage due to cracks in the nearby rock face.

Cutajar and Castillo sent questions to the Restoration and Preservation Department regarding this statue, in which they asked for details regarding a potential relocation of the statue.

The MPs asked the department if the statue would remain in the same area due to its cultural and historical value as well as its importance to the area’s heritage. The Restoration and Preservation Department replied that the proposed location would only be a few metres further inland, to a more geographically stable area. It added that the new location would still allow for the statue to be enjoyed in viewing with the surrounding landscape, including the nearby chapel.

The department told the MPs that the Mellieha Local Council was consulted as part of the planning process and was therefore aware of such plans. It also said that the statue was being held at the department’s premises in Floriana and sent images of the statue’s dismantling process to show that it was done properly and safely.

Castillo asked the department why it took nearly two years for a permit to be issued and for a safe location to be identified for the 150-year-old statue, as his original call for action was in 2022.

Responding to this, the department said that two planning applications had been submitted, with the second “being necessary after studies on the rock formation in the area have shown that the statue would best be relocated further inland”. It continued that the main goal of one of the applications (PA/07042/22) was to “dismantle the monument in order to remove it from danger”. This application was approved in January 2023. It added that while this application was being processed and for several months afterwards, a study was carried out where geotechnical stability and ground movements were studied through the use of satellite images. The department said that an analysis of the results indicated a safer place where the monument could be placed and that because of this a second application was submitted to the Planning Authority, indicated as PA/04809/24.

In his questions, Cutajar asked the department who had decided that the statue should be removed from its original position and for the reasons as to why this was done.

The department replied that it had become aware of cracks in the nearby rocks in April 2022, and that after an analysis of the site, a decision was made to intervene by the department itself. It continued that the Lands Authority was informed of this and that an application was then submitted to the Planning Authority. It continued that after this application was approved the statue and the pedestal were dismantled and stored at the department’s complex to prevent further damage.

Some of the entities which were consulted throughout this process, the department said, included the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, the Mellieha Local Council, the Environment and Resources Authority, and the Lands Authority, among others.