Reviving Mdina

The "silent city", as Mdina has been called, sounds like an epitaph for a dead city. Mdina's cultural and material decline has been recent relative to its long history, noticeably during the colonial period. This colonial legacy and the mentality it has generated in our administrators still continue to stunt the cultural potential of this ancient city of art.

Historically, Mdina and its people had not been silent but had made vigorous contributions to every aspect of Malta's cultural life. The maestro di cappella of the Mdina cathedral at the time of the order of St John had produced invaluable manuscripts of Maltese baroque and early musical compositions. After centuries of neglect, the Labour government of the 1970s had revived this music from oblivion through the work of the newly set up School of Music.

The architectural gems which make up Mdina, notably the cathedral and the Vilhena palace, had also fallen in neglect since the dubious interventions of the 1960s until interest was revived during the Labour administration. Starting in 1997, scientific investigations were commissioned to understand the geological problems leading to ground instability which is threatening the Vilhena palace area.

The Labour government had also set up the Restoration Unit within the Public Works Division. This was done with indifference to the political complexion of the technical and professional persons involved, a far cry from the present obsession with political appointments. The revival of Mdina and its neglected cultural assets remained inherent Labour policy until an early election cut short its ambitious programme.

At present, the attitude of the government towards Mdina is devoid of any plan or vision. The investigations on ground instability at Vilhena palace were immediately halted when the Nationalist Party was elected to government in 1998. As a substitute, a project costing 30 times more than that planned by the Labour government was initiated by the PN. Following some tests made a few years ago, project activity around the palace area is nowhere to be seen and there have not been results or tangible progress in stopping the collapse of the Vilhena palace, despite the high cost incurred by taxpayers.

The danger of collapse of architectural structures now stretches all along the entire eastern flank of Mdina, which includes the cathedral. Bastions already show large fissures in their masonry. The present government for too long has ignored this precarious situation. The commissioning of expensive reports, which lead to nowhere, will not stop the catastrophic collapse of a substantial part of our architectural and artistic heritage.

Meanwhile, cosmetic and damaging interventions abound. The restoration of Vilhena palace, mainly its façade, was hardly a consolation when we know that the entire palace risks collapse. Wrong techniques of restoration based on the pitting of the limestone façades continue to be allowed. Important and highly visible façades have now been permanently marred by this wrong treatment.

We cannot allow Mdina to become the field laboratory for local and foreign experimental or dilettante restoration schemes. The approach adopted by the PN government has not helped matters, rather it has aggravated the situation. The government opted to create a burgeoning constellation of heritage and restoration entities which rarely coordinate their efforts; indeed, some seem to be in competition with each other, vying for the limelight and a larger slice of public funds. As a result, we can now see more piecemeal interventions aimed at exalting a particular star in this constellation rather relying on a multi-disciplinary approach based on a concerted effort to save our heritage.

The plan for the paving of Mdina with imported stone is another case of failure. Again, there was no concerted effort by different heritage and restoration entities. This project was supposed to start in January but remains on the drawing board.

The Labour government's approach was to rely on expert advise for assessing the quality of imported stone for paving historical sites in the 1996-98 period. Indeed, the use of imported stone as paving material has to be evaluated with great care. This does not seem to be the case with the planned importation of paving stone for Mdina and may risk unsightly splitting and fracturing of inadequate paving material.

The problems of Mdina cover a multitude of issues ranging from structural collapse, restoration of artistic material, cultural revival and the role of public and private amenities. Labour had started to deal with these problems in an expert manner with long-lasting positive results. On the other hand, the inability of this government to deal effectively with these problems has aggravated an already precarious situation. Labour wants to put our heritage on the national agenda once again in the hope that past treasures become resource for the present, with a long future ahead.

Mr Abela is the opposition's spokesman for education, youth and culture.