Valletta not living up to its heritage potential

I would like to express my full support for Ray Bondin's article (September 20).

For far too long the powers that be have paid only lip service to our once glorious capital city; reviews, proposals, visions which all seem to come to nothing. Properties continue to be vandalised for commercial reasons, totally inappropriate shop façades continue to be installed.

Accessorise in Republic Street and Lacoste in Merchant Street being both recent additions, not to mention the horrendous Cordina's Café side doorway (?) or the new M&S windows, well designed but not for their situation on the side of a Grade 1 Listed Building in Palace Square.

These harsh and tasteless intrusions on the face of such an historic and beautiful city must stop. The people who are allowing such designs to go ahead obviously do not know how to manage a World Heritage Site and should be replaced. None of them seems to know what people who come to this country expect to see. I suggest they travel a bit outside the island to see what other countries do with important towns and cities, many of which do not have anything like the worthy building heritage Valletta has.

I spent my first three years in Valletta and despaired of ever seeing the potential of that magical city brought to life. It seems to me more constructive to have a man with a bucket of warm water and a paint scraper to clean off the remains of old posters from the City Gate than to hold more Notte Biancas - an example of "bread and circuses" which have gone the next day leaving no improvement.

Mr Bondin has always been a beacon of hope for anyone with an eye for what is right for Valletta, but must feel at times he is a voice crying in the wilderness - you are not alone Mr Bondin, there are a lot of us who agree with you.