Rehabilitating Mdina

Ray Bondin (Mdina Rehabilitation Committee) claims (April 14) that local hard stone (zonqor) paving is nowhere to be found in Mdina. In fact, zonqor has a history of use as a paving material in prominent areas of Valletta and Mdina. Some of this paving is still visible in front of the Cathedral Museum in Mdina.

Mr Bondin is also mistaken when he concludes that the imported Sicilian limestone presently being used to pave Mdina's roads "is in texture and qualities very close to Maltese hard stone". In reality, the difference is remarkable. The imported Sicilian limestone is mostly fine-grained while local zonqor has a readily visible coarse-grained texture which is better suited for paving. It seems that the selection process for the Sicilian limestone lacked an expert input, as did the method of laying of the paving which is being underlain by concrete. This is a deleterious material for the limestone footings of Mdina's structures and other buried ancient remains.

Mr Bondin also refers to Vilhena Palace and claims that he is seeking funding to solve this "very old and serious structural problem". This problem cannot be solved simply by addressing the structural damage as claimed by Mr Bondin, without first solving the problems of the underlying geology.

A site investigation carried out by the Labour administration shows that the severe damage in these sturdy structures is a result of slope failure caused by incompetent rock. This problem was partly ingeniously remedied by the Knights of Malta, although their engineering achievement has been marred by unwise interventions in the last century and present incompetence.

Indeed, the geological hazard affecting substantial parts of Mdina remains poorly understood due to the politically motivated, untimely termination by the PN administration of the technical study started under the Labour administration.