I refer to the article entitled Plea To Save Local Film Heritage (March 10).

In the article in question, Joe Debono, director of Studio 7, was reported to have called on the Department of Information to restore its archived films.

I would like to put Mr Debono's and readers' minds at rest that the matter is being actively addressed. In fact, the DOI is in the final phase of transferring "the small gems of Maltese cinematography", as Mr Debono aptly described them, to a properly set up vault equipped with the appropriate ambient conditions intended to prolong their preservation.

Concurrently, before being permanently stored in the vault room in new plastic film cans, all the 16mm films are being individually catalogued and registered in a database.

Subsequently, the department plans to proceed to the ambitious but not impossible task of converting the films to a digitised format, evaluating, in the process, the historical, political and social importance of each film. It will be a very time-consuming and most laborious task, but all very worth it, because a very important part of Malta's heritage will have been permanently conserved and secured for the benefit of future generations.