Explainer: The Simblija Medieval Settlement And Its Series Of Ownership Issues
You might have heard about the Simblija medieval settlement located in the vicinity of Dingli and Rabat, however, visiting this national historic site might have proved to be difficult.
It’s a beautiful area of historic land that has long been sought to be declared as public access for all Maltese citizens to enjoy, but it is not that simple.
The area has been inhabited by a farmer for decades now, as agreed through an agricultural lease granted years back. The medieval settlement was also previously scheduled as Grade 2, which allows some development work to be done but the outer skin needs to be retained.
But regardless, many individuals, environmentalists, organisations, and even the government have long wished for this historic site to be returned back to the public, so that a piece of our national heritage can be enjoyed and accessed by everyone.
The Agricultural Leases Act was originally enacted in order to regulate the reletting of agricultural land, providing grounds for eviction and grants rights to the landlord to change the conditions of the lease.
There are two main ways that the conditions of an agricultural lease can be altered, either by a written agreement between the lessor and the tenant or by filing an ad hoc application before the board, in the case of special situations.
In 2003, a €43,000 EU funded restoration project in the archaeological site of is-Simblija was inaugurated, but the funds were given before the agricultural lease had been terminated, and access to the settlement was still being blocked.
In 2012, The Ramblers Association Malta had discovered that the area was being used in terms of an agricultural lease, and was obstructing access to the historic settlement. RAM had then asked the Lands Department to revise the lease so that right of passage could be ensured.
Fast forward to 2018, and the government had issued a notice to terminate the agricultural lease of the farmer that currently occupies the land of Simblija, along with the pathways leading to it, so that public access to the site could be restored.
However, in the termination letter, the Lands Authority had failed to specify a date by which he needed to vacate this part of the site.
Even though public access was restored, it wasn’t long before the fight continued.
Over this technicality, the farmer then sued them in front of the Tribunal for Administrative revision and managed to get the termination notice annulled over this said technicality.
Following this, the farmer then sued the Lands Authority for damages since such an error was made in the termination letter that was sent to him, and therefore the termination was not carried out correctly.
Simultaneously, he also obtained an injunction against the Lands Authority stopping it from issuing another termination later and granting the site to the Ramblers Association, under guardianship terms.
The said injunction will be in place until the case is resolved, regardless of the outcome.
The Ramblers Association have been an instrumental voice in the work input to getting the agricultural lease terminated, for the eventual return of public access for Simblija.
Several court cases are still ongoing.
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