Eyes front

His zeal for saving, restoring and preserving historical sites needs no amplifying. MARIO FARRUGIA is the kingpin of Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna which he chairs. GEORGE CINI met up with him at Fort Rinella in Kalkara to find out what lies behind the man and the organisation.

His mind is razor sharp. His mission: Saving heritage, mostly military.

His assertive gait and deep voice fit the image of a man who does not suffer fools. The New Testament inspires him to plod on.

Christ's commitment to the cause calling on his disciples to leave behind all else and follow Him is the mission statement he tries to instil in the work force and volunteers at Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna. He is also the CEO at FWA and a board member at Heritage Malta.

FWA has 30 volunteers and 13 full-time workers. Funds are generated from visitor entrance fees, the sale of merchandising and organising corporate events such as banquets to companies involved in incentive travel. FWA is restoring and managing 30 sites.

The secret of FWA's success is that all members of the staff and volunteers are expected to do all sorts of tasks. FWA has a linear management set-up with much space for multi-tasking. Although he wears the hat of the top man at FWA, Mr Farrugia still rolls up his sleeves if sweeping needs to be done, a toilet needs to be cleaned or a hand is wanted in the kitchen.

"This is a culture the country does not seem to want to adapt to. That is why there are so many problems in most public corporations and organisations. Workers have to be flexible and multi-skilled so one can maximise human and material resources."

He attributes his zeal for conserving historical sites to his father Amabile, a keen restorer of vintage cars. Interest in history was instilled in him by his maternal grandfather, a former policeman and disciplinarian of the old school, who recounted colourful stories about his time in the police force and his World War II experiences.

He had joined the Royal Malta Artillery as a boy-soldier after WWI but moved on to the police force when WWII broke out. His father (that is, Mr Farrugia's great- grandfather), John Mary, hailed from a family of army men. None had reached officer status but several went through some really interesting experiences.

Between 1910-12, John Mary Dimech underwent instruction in military tailoring at the Royal Uniform Factory at Pimlico in London to become a military tailor. He ended his days in the army as a Warrant Officer before WWII.

Mr Farrugia himself did a three-year stint in the Armed Forces of Malta as a soldier.

Fort Rinella was handed over to FWA in 1991 after a wait of four years which was extremely disappointing because, had the work started earlier, the project would have been completed by now.

Mr Farrugia credits former Environment Minister Stanley Zammit for pushing for Fort Rinella to be passed on to FWA. There were squatters at Rinella at the time. FWA also got immense support from Tourism Minister Francis Zammit Dimech and (former Labour minister) Charles Buhagiar.

Mr Farrugia started out on this trail in 1987 when a group of friends decided to do something about saving historic sites. Although Din l-Art Helwa had been founded since 1965, many people were not yet aware of the need to safeguard as much of the country's heritage as possible.

The group spent weekends cleaning up sites but soon realised that their effort was going to waste because departmental workers did not even bother to remove the weeds and rubbish collected. After that, they decided to take on a site, restore it and manage it. They started lobbying as Moviment Ghall-Harsien tal-Ambjent Storiku to take over Rinella.

"After 1992, I managed to get the services of two government workers to help us out and changed our name to Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna. We needed to have a legal constitution in order to lobby to take over the management of historic sites."

Dedication and vision are two of the basic tenets of this success story.

"I believe in leading by example. Whenever I came up with any ideas such as introducing live interpretation, carrying out fund-raising drives and doing animated guiding or lobbying, I rolled up my sleeves and led the rest of the team.

"One of the main shortfalls for anyone leading such NGOs is to steer away from the trap of spending most of one's time in administrative work and leaving it to others to take care of the executive arm.

"I always made it a point that along with the administrative work, I handled manual work as well. If you want somebody to do a task you have to show you can do it as well."

The impression of a strict disciplinarian is nothing short of what he is like.

"I am a person with an agenda: Save as much as possible; I have no time to waste. There is quite a lot on my plate and although I constantly think of shedding some, it is not always possible mainly because of financial and manpower limitations.

"One has to develop an instinct for making as much as one can out of practically nothing."

Forms of fund-raising include monetary assistance from supporters and "silent donations by people who show their appreciation of the efforts put in by FWA and send in donations".

Mr Farrugia believes that Heritage Malta would be able to fare much better were it not burdened with all the workers from the former Museums Department.

"The government ought to ensure that Heritage Malta gets all the resources it needs to move ahead with its much awaited remake.

"It is not acceptable that three-quarters of its budget covers salaries with little else remaining for the maintenance and upgrade of its sites. On its part, Heritage Malta should shed its past practices stemming from its origins as a government department.

"It has to be more adventurous and keep re-inventing itself. I would like to see more action."

By his own admission he is a radical person and would handle things in a radical fashion.

"Here's one example. Decisions were taken at board level at Heritage Malta for all the bronze cannon to be removed from open spaces. After the objectors were faced with convincing technical facts that damage was being caused to such cannon everyone consented. But the cannon are still in the open. It seems there is no sense of urgency.

"At FWA, if something has to be done, we do it, no ifs and buts. I am not saying one should take rash decisions but once a decision is taken, act on it."

At the Malta Tourism Authority, which is one of the supporters of FWA, he believes marketing has to improve.

The MTA needs to delve more into what is being offered to visitors and the quality of service they are getting. Foreign visitors are still not getting their 100 per cent due.

Malta, he feels, still looks like a massive dump. Chaos rules in public transport, driving is still dangerous on roads known best for their lunar resemblance. The country's attractions are still way below acceptable quality.

Malta should be branded and marketed as the heart of the Mediterranean and the product has to meet the expectations raised by marketing. "On brochures and websites, the islands are advertised as heaven on earth only for visitors to get the shock of their life once they get here.

"Visitors must be offered experiences and not half-baked efforts. Malta expects its elected leaders to do their utmost and come up with solutions and make decisions on issues and problems that are vital for the livelihood of the nation.

"The main problem are tour operators who have been churning the same old itinerary like going to Ghar Dalam and these old places without bothering to update themselves with the latest additions, improvements and new attractions to improve their product.

"Some guides are more interested in netting commissions rather than pushing the best of what Malta can offer. This myopic attitude must change. It must be drummed into everyone's mind that no one owes the country a living - rather we have to prove we can deliver. No more nice talk - plain action is urgently needed.

"Marketing our sites is a nightmare: To try to get a tour operator to include us in his itinerary is simply no go. This is due to the constant resistance to change."

FWA had to work around this hurdle. At Fort Rinella alone, they get 40,000 visitors annually mostly under their own steam. But they do want more tour operators to visit their sites.

Credit is due to Thompson, now TUI (Malta) Ltd, that has been including FWA sites in their tours for the past seven years. They do this because visitor satisfaction is extremely high.

The way he runs FWA verges on the military. He demands that every member of the staff gives individual attention to each and every visitor and additionally an average of five hours a week in voluntary work.

As I left Fort Rinella, I could hear his shoes tapping on the concrete floor reminding me of the time when military men were part of the daily mosaic in this island fortress.