Floriana: No longer a suburb

I wish to reply to Paul Spiteri Lucas's letter titled Floriana Just A Suburb (December 2).

Although the correspondent might have been correct in saying that, initially, Floriana was intended as a suburb, one can now ask whether this still holds true in this day and age.

The correspondent made a sweeping statement which seemed quite dubious, asserting that the importance of Valletta is much greater than that of Floriana. Who said that Valletta is (historically speaking) more important than Floriana? Floriana (just like Valletta) possesses a unique cultural and historical identity in its own right. By attempting to belittle Floriana (even though unsuccessfully) the correspondent was humiliating a prominent section of Malta's history.

It is also correct, as the correspondent claimed, that the Scottish novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) stated that Valletta was a city built by gentlemen for gentlemen but Mr Spiteri Lucas would have been just as correct in saying that the famous writer had also added that Valletta's streets were full of dirt and rubbish