State repossesses lower Fort St Elmo

The Government Property Division yesterday repossessed premises at lower Fort St Elmo, in Valletta, that have been occupied by squatters and identified the warehouses of carnival float builders who would continue to be allowed access.

Some seven empty rooms, which had already been vacated by the squatters following eviction notices last week, were sealed off and about 17 carnival workshops were identified and registered with the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts, which has been collaborating on the exercise. The carnival leaders and helpers will be provided passes to enter the derelict site, access to which is now under the control of the Armed Forces of Malta.

The empty rooms were found to be a "disgusting mess" due, primarily, to animal excrement and other forms of waste and scrap, council executive director Davinia Galea said. She said anything imaginable, including syringes, could be found in lower Fort St Elmo.

A substantial number of police officers were involved in yesterday's early-morning eviction operation, which included the AFM, the Works Division and the SPCA to remove all animals found on the premises.

The strong police presence seemed to have "disrupted" the hot-headed carnival participants, who objected to the operation and derided them. They waited outside the fort, vehemently protesting that they had been "thrown out", although it transpired they knew they had not and have been cooperating with the authorities. Their major bone of contention was the removal of their "pets", which they claimed guarded their workshops from frequent thefts.

Animal welfare director Mario Spiteri, whose role was to remove abandoned animals from the fort, was restricted entrance at one point. He said all sorts of animals had been housed in St Elmo, including fighting dogs and horses, but most had been removed by their owners over the week.

One carnival participant yelled he would burn his float in front of everyone if they removed his pet and others threatened to drop out of next year's festivities, claiming the police's aim was to remove them and that they were not criminals.

The carnival participants have never been on the division's eviction agenda and, in fact, the president of their association, Jason Busuttil, clarified later that they welcomed the removal of squatters who, he added, were an annoyance to them too, and agreed with the heightened security at the fort. "However, we expect the AFM to be responsible for our warehouses now that they have removed our dogs," he said.

They supported any project that would turn the dilapidated Fort St Elmo into a tourist attraction, Mr Busuttil said, referring to their "extra scenes" staged outside the fort despite the agreement with the authorities on yesterday's procedure, which should have been "plain sailing".

Mr Busuttil shifted the issue to the pending situation facing carnival organisers and their premises, saying they would rather have moved to an alternative and adequate site from yesterday.

"We are not after a whole village, a political promise that has been in the pipeline for decades. We just want a warehouse."

Mr Busuttil gave the government a three-week ultimatum to propose an alternative site and any deadlines for the move, claiming the Prime Minister was already working on one. He said the carnival float builders would remain at Fort St Elmo until February but they wanted to know before where they would go when the festivities were over and they had to dismantle their floats.

Ms Galea, however, denied they would have to leave the fort by February, saying they would remain until the government decided on an alternative site.

The use of premises in Floriana had been shot down by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority but others were being worked on, she said.

The fort's gates were yesterday welded so they could not be lifted off their hinges and a crane hoisted over the wall a guard room for the soldiers. Another three points of easy access were also blocked off.

Floodlights for security and electricity meters to stop theft were also being installed, arousing mixed feelings among the carnival enthusiasts, who said they had worked in poor conditions for 30 years and could not believe that these were being sorted out in their last few months at the fort.