Fort St Elmo placed on endangered sites list

The neglect of Fort St Elmo is not only on the Maltese people's black book but has also found its way onto a list of the world's 100 most endangered heritage sites.

It is the first time the fort has ended up on the reputable World Monuments Watch List, even though about 10 years ago it had already placed number one among 10 endangered sites on the list of the international heritage conservation NGO Icomos Malta.

Ray Bondin, former curator of Valletta for 20 years, said the World Monuments Fund, which compiles the watch list, had expressed surprise that Malta had not requested any funding for the drawing up of reports and to identify solutions for it. The Fund is the leading private organisation dedicated to saving the world's most treasured places.

Despite the warning from the Icomos Malta list, the situation remained unchanged, Dr Bondin lamented.

The state of Fort St Elmo was placed under the spotlight recently in comments made to The Times by conservation architect Edward Said.

The Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, Mario de Marco was quick to embrace the issue, calling the fort a "national shame" and listing a three-step action plan to conserve what exists, restore certain parts and decide on a use.

Should the Grand Harbour Regeneration Project not succeed in attracting the right private investment that would enable the fort to be rehabilitated, Dr de Marco said he would consider the submission of a tourism-related project for the fort under remaining EU Structural Funds allocated to tourism, which amount to about €30 million.

Even former Labour Party general secretary Jimmy Magro has joined the outcry, proposing the setting up of a foundation to work towards its rehabilitation.

Mr Magro stressed that financing could be obtained from EU Structural Funds. However, he also pointed out that funds can also be secured under cross-border cooperation. He said the government should consider the privatisation of sites that need renovation and take advantage of every source of financing. The government should help by making the restoration project a priority, Mr Magro said.

In the meantime, the Parliamentary Secretary for Government Revenues and Land, Jason Azzopardi, is working on enforcement, security issues and the eviction of squatters, which pose a major problem to the fort's rehabilitation.