Vittoriosa clock tower

I refer to the letter "Against rebuilding Vittoriosa clock tower" by Mr Anthony Farrugia (The Sunday Times, September 3). The proposal to rebuild the tower, a very strong symbol for the whole of Cottonera and not only for Vittoriosa, is part of a plan to install some historic elements back to the main square of Vittoriosa before a substantial upgrading.

This proposal, which I had made, was incorporated into the Master Plan which was amply published and got no negative reactions. The tower will obviously be a recollection of the old tower and will not be made to look like the original. It will be a symbol of the regeneration of Vittoriosa of the past ten years. The idea is that once the tower is rebuilt, which will be an enormous boost to tourism in the area, the whole square will be upgraded.

The Cottonera Rehabilitation Project (CRP) within the Ministry for Resources and Infrastructure has been waiting for MEPA's approval for many months.

Mr Farrugia refers to the "great improvements" made in Vittoriosa over the past ten years with thanks to the local council and its mayor.

For accuracy's sake permit me to state that since 1998 the CRP has carried out a large number of projects in the city and has assisted other entities in taking up major projects. CRP was responsible for the removal of accretions at Fort St Angelo and for its lighting system.

CRP directly undertook a number of restoration projects such as that of the Armoury, façades of some important buildings such as the old house of the Papas, the major project of the Victory statue and that of St Lawrence in the main square, as well as parts of the bastion walls of the land front.

CRP also undertook a number of minor, but no less important, restoration projects such as the hat of La Valette.

CRP was also directly responsible for a large number of upgrading projects which included paving parts of the Collachio area, restoring original hard stone paving, upgrading and paving of the belvedere at Couvre Porte and Desain Square, the area of the bridge entrance, etc.

In the ditch area CRP was responsible for the cleaning up and restoration of the shelters (now a FWA museum), closing up of various shelters, substantial upgrading in the ditch plus the fittings for the lighting system of the land front.

The list goes on and on. I should mention once more the excellent work that was done with the Master Plan which is a very important document.