Vittoriosa clock tower

Fr Paul Chetcuti (The Sunday Times, September 17) harshly criticises the rebuilding of the Vittoriosa clock tower on Vittoriosa Square as it will only benefit, in his view, businessmen and those bent on making money.

But the whole idea is exactly that of generating new interest and commercial activity. Who will benefit from this if not the people of Vittoriosa? And what does the decay in the moral values of the Maltese have to do with this project?

He also stresses that its rebuilding would reduce the space left to the inhabitants where they can breathe and spend their leisure time. He knows that, until only recently, Vittoriosa Square was simply a packed parking lot. It is only thanks to the local council's initiative that parking has now been limited.

Besides he forgot that the people of Vittoriosa had another open space which was taken away from them: the entire square in front of St Lawrence church, popularly known as Ix-Xatt. It was cleared of naval buildings in 1958 and offered Vittoriosa families an excellent recreation area. In 1979 the area was piled with huge, unsightly blocks of rustic stone and cluttered with prickly pear trees into what purports to be the Maltese version of Freedom Hill.

Fr Chetcuti could suggest that a decent and decorous Freedom Monument should be rebuilt to match the baroque surroundings, thereby returning Ix-Xatt to the people of Vittoriosa.