Crippled Tritons

I refer to recent letters about the destruction of the Tritons fountain.

In 1984, the Statue of Liberty in New York's harbour underwent a major restoration project during which all of its 1385 internal iron ribs, supporting the copper-cladding forming the statue's sculpture, had to be "individually" replaced due to galvanic corrosion. New bars of stainless steel bent into matching shapes replaced the iron bars. The whole project cost $62 million.

I find it hard to understand why just three years later, the Maltese government could not find a way to repair the Tritons fountain, without resorting to constructing a central column to house its water pipes, ruining the original concept of the three giants supporting and balancing the plate. Furthermore the column makes it very hard to visually define the tritons' internal outlines.

Was it that impossible a task to repair the original pipes in the tritons' arms? Or was it lack of allocated funds or locally available expertise?

I am sure that today, after 20 years, considering  the advances achieved in  technology and engineering, there is now a way to rid this monument of that horrific central column and restore it to its original design. At present it is barely a fitting introduction to a world heritage city.