Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1546498
DIN l-Art Ħelwa has filed an appeal against the Planning Authority's approval of a major extension to the Grand Hotel Excelsior. The six-storey wing will add 77 guest rooms and re- move over 1,200 square metres of open space beneath Malta's key historic fortifications. "There is a profound historical irony here," said Patrick Calle- ja, Executive President of Din l-Art Ħelwa. "Din l-Art Ħelwa was founded more than sixty years ago out of public outrage at the desecration of these very bastions by the original Excel- sior development. More than sixty years later, we now find ourselves once again defend- ing them, this time against a further extension of the same hotel. That tells us, sadly, how little has changed and how lit- tle has been learned." This comes after the Planning Authority approved a 77-room lateral extension to the Grand Hotel Excelsior in Floriana. The original Excelsior hotel left what Din l-Art Ħelwa de- scribes as a visible scar on the historic bastions. This latest approval, the group argues, allows the hotel to expand fur- ther into the bastions' setting, adding more bulk and develop- ment into one of Malta's most sensitive historic landscapes. The fortifications in question form part of Malta's recent bid for United Nations Educa- tional, Scientific and Cultural Organisation World Heritage status. Din l-Art Ħelwa argues that this recognition carries an obli- gation to protect, not diminish, the outstanding universal value of these structures. The group also rejects what it calls the outdated notion that tourism success is measured only by rising bed numbers. "Malta cannot credibly pursue a quality tourism model while simultaneously permitting de- velopments that erode the very historic and visual assets upon which that tourism depends," Din l-Art Ħelwa said. "Our bastions are not a backdrop for development. They are the her- itage that development must respect." He said that together with other NGOs, activists and cit- izens who refuse to remain si- lent, Din l-Art Ħelwa will con- tinue to fulfil the role for which it was created: to stand guard over these islands and defend the heritage that belongs not only to us, but to generations yet to come. 6 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 9 SEPTEMBER 2026 NEWS Din l-Art Helwa files appeal against Excelsior Hotel expansion 'Integrity must triumph over corruption', Bishop says BISHOP Joseph Galea-Curmi has called for integrity to prevail over corruption, framing it as one of five victories Malta must pursue. Speaking at St John's Co-Ca- thedral on Victory Day, the Auxiliary Bishop has posi- tioned the struggle against corruption as central to the na- tion's moral foundation. "Corruption does not be- come wrong the moment it is exposed; it is wrong when it is committed, and wherever it is committed, even if it remains hidden," the Bishop said in his homily. The Bishop stressed that integrity requires acting ac- cording to what is right, even against the tide. He said it means refusing to make money a false god or resort to bribery. "Integrity helps us fight against the web of organised crime which, through its intrigues, subverts justice," he added. The Bishop identified cor- ruption as eroding the moral fibre of society. He argued that integrity must form the foun- dation of a just society, requir- ing that personal interest not be placed before the common good and that public service not be turned into personal gain. Within a broader call for na- tional renewal, the Bishop also urged victories in four other areas: life over the culture of death, truth over lies, care for creation over environmental destruction, and support for the vulnerable against margin- alisation. On truth, he warned that ly- ing has become normalised. On life, he emphasised protec- tion from conception to natu- ral death. On the environment, he cautioned: "There will be no victory if our children have to breathe polluted air instead of clean air." The Bishop concluded that Malta's progress rests on vic- tories achieved through daily choices, so that "light may tri- umph over darkness. JULIANA ZAMMIT jzammit@mediatoday.com.mt Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Galea- Curmi calls for integrity to triumph over what he describes as a threat to the nation's fabric "Corruption does not become wrong the moment it is exposed; it is wrong when it is committed, and wherever it is committed, even if it remains hidden," the Bishop said in his homily, delivered on Tuesday morning (Photo: DOI)