Valletta rehabilitation works defended

Criticism of the state of Valletta by Din l-Art Helwa (DLH) president Martin Scicluna yesterday drew rebuttals from the city's mayor and the Valletta Rehabilitation Project (VRP).

Both Valletta mayor Paul Borg Olivier and VRP executive coordinator Ray Bondin said a lot has been done in the capital since 1987.

Speaking to The Times, Dr Borg Olivier said that in the '70s and '80s Valletta was in a state of degeneration. He said the impact of neglect that the city suffered during those years could still be felt.

"The city has come from a negative to a positive attitude. The fact that we managed to shift this attitude is a good thing, and was not an easy thing to do," he said.

In a statement, Dr Bondin said that since 1987 the government has given particular attention to the needs of Valletta. Dr Bondin said it is "indeed quite incomprehensible" how DLH has not mentioned that before 1987, Valletta was truly in a state of total abandon and that many of its buildings needed structural propping.

"It is certainly unfair of DLH to state that 'little or no progress has been made' in the rehabilitation of Valletta when it is enough to see the multitude of projects in all the major buildings and in the main areas of Valletta. There is no doubt that a lot still needs to be done but this certainly does not diminish the great amount of work that has been done and is being done," he said.

Dr Bondin mentioned a number of projects the VRP was carrying out.

The mayor said he did not agree with Mr Scicluna's opinion that Valletta is a "city betrayed". Neither did he agree about about the need to have a minister responsible solely for Valletta. Instead, he said, it was imperative to strengthen the existing resources - the local council and VRP - and give them the necessary manpower to do what was needed.

He said Valletta local council should not be considered like any other local council, since although there are 5,000 inhabitants in Valletta, it is visited by 40,000 people daily. He referred to a speech that he made recently when he said that if the current resources remained as they were, it would take 80 years to repair all the pavements.

The mayor said half of the Lm200,000 the council got went into cleaning services.

"Valletta has a lot of needs. It is the tourist city," he said. He asked how the state could contribute Lm500,000 to extending a beach while a number of footpaths in Valletta were actually dangerous.

He also refuted a claim that nothing was done in Valletta, and said that DLH itself had helped in a number of projects.

"Let's call a spade a spade," he said.

The mayor also mentioned the rehabilitation of a number of palazzos, as well as the around 150 residential balconies which were restored through funds voted by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, together with the rehabilitation of a number of balconies owned by government departments.

Dr Borg Olivier said Valletta was previously considered as the ideal office location, but today interest to live in the city was higher than ever.

However, he agreed with Mr Scicluna that St Elmo was in need of rehabilitation. Questioned on whether he agreed that parliament should be moved from its current meeting place at the Palace, Dr Borg Olivier said that was a Magisterial Palace and should be given back its former glory, and while housing the President's office, it was too small for parliament's needs. He said there was more than one option for parliament.

The Resources and Infrastructure Ministry also replied to DLH. Cleansing Services Department director Joseph Sammut said the DLH's annual general meeting turned out to be an attack on the "overall lack of cleanliness" and the "litter and dog excrement" in Valletta, among other issues.

"In the general cleanliness of the City there is always room for improvement, we consider that with all due difficulties, every effort is being taken to minimise the inconveniences arising," he said.

Mr Sammut mentioned the massive volume of waste collected from domestic households, shops and after the closing of the open market in Merchants' Street in the afternoon. He said a great amount of litter was also swept and gathered from the streets of Valletta every day.

"It is not only dog fouling that is removed from the streets of Valletta, but also horse dung which is regularly left on the streets by cabbies and other horses still being used in Valletta," he said.