Drive to remove airconditioning units from Valletta façades

Removing airconditioning units from the façades of Valletta buildings will give the capital a needed facelift, and the authorities are determined to see this happening before long.

Owners and tenants of buildings which have visible air-conditioning units are being urged to regularise their position by the end of June. No processing fees will be charged on development applications received by June 30. The fees can vary between Lm15 and Lm500.

The Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA) will be taking immediate action and removing units which were installed after November 9.

Speaking during a press briefing yesterday MEPA chairman Andrew Calleja stressed the importance of protecting the beauty of Valletta, which apart from being a UNESCO World Heritage Site, contains the largest agglomeration of architectural monuments on the island. However, a number of beautiful buildings in the capital have been defaced by the additions of clearly visible units.

Architect Reuben Abela said a survey conducted by MEPA in recent months showed that there were almost 1,300 airconditioning units which were visible from the street - 691 of these belonged to commercial premises, 304 to residential premises, 218 to public entities while 80 were unaccounted for. Mr Abela said 72 per cent of the units were stuck directly to façades, 19 per cent were in balconies and the other nine per cent were in doors or windows but still visible from the outside.

A leaflet published by the authority gives ideas of how airconditioning units can be concealed to reduce the eyesore. It says these can be concealed within shops, within timber balconies, placed within the main door fanlight or concealed behind a fixed louvred window. It says the units could also be placed within open rail balconies and hidden by creepers.

Environment Minister George Pullicino said small cities in other countries, including neighbouring Sicily, had managed to rid themselves of visible airconditioning units. There was no reason why Valletta should not manage to do this too. "This will give added value to Valletta," he stressed.

Mr Pullicino said MEPA needed to learn from this exercise so that the same could be done in other localities like Mdina and the Three Cities.

Valletta mayor Paul Borg Olivier said embellishing the capital city would also lead to added value to the buildings.

Also present was Valletta Rehabilitation Project executive co-ordinator Ray Bondin who appealed to architects to take units into consideration when making plans.

An enforcement officer will be assisting people who need to regularise their position and can be reached on 2290-3015 or 2290-3001.