Taming the dragon

St George's Square is a jewel at the heart of the capital city in front of a majestic palace. It is the most important square in the city. It is a pity that this main square of national importance is today covered in damaged slabs and is cluttered with today's dragons, vehicles as it has been reduced to a mere parking space. In the past it was planned to construct an underground car park of four storeys or over. However, this is clearly not the spirit of the traffic system which is needed for Valletta. One must cut down on the number of vehicles entering the city and increase the utilisation of public transport.

The original idea was to clear the square from vehicle parking and create a one-storey underground space. However, following the discovery of a network of underground tunnels beneath its surface, the ministry abandoned this idea and opted for a complete facelift of the square, not only with new paving but also with the installation of a large fountain with water jets shooting from ground level.

This idea was favoured as it allows more flexibility which would not disturb any parade or national activity held in the square. The necessary Mepa permits for this project were granted last Thursday.

This square lies at the heart of Valletta and, therefore, it needs to be animated and utilised by people rather than vehicles. The fact that the area, including Old Theatre Street that will be paved in lava as it originally was shall be entirely pedestrianised will serve this aim. The project is set to start right after the June 7 festivities and be completed by not later than the end of November - May 8.

What is worth knowing

Journalism is deemed to be one of the pillars of a democratic state. Therefore, every initiative intended to strengthen this pillar is to be praised and encouraged. Yesterday evening, I attended the 19th edition of the Malta Journalism Awards organised by the Institute of Maltese Journalists. Last night's winners were chosen from 36 finalists out of a total of 57 submissions in 13 different categories.

During yesterday's ceremony, the winner of the Gold Award was also announced. This honour is given to an individual chosen by the jury who would have gone beyond the call of duty in the course of his/her journalistic career. This year, the award went to Lino Spiteri who has been active in the journalistic field for over 50 years. Whether one sees eye to eye with him or not, Lino deserves the award because his is an incisive pen with well-honed analytical skills. He said that the first time he handed in an article his feet felt like jelly and that yesterday he felt the same way again. I believe him.

Last night, one could appreciate the journalists' input both as regards printed local media as well as audio-visual productions. I believe that local journalism has made encouraging advances but overall there is still a dearth of analytic journalism, based on research rather than perception. Oscar Wilde once said : The public have an insatiable curiosity to know everything. Except what is worth knowing. Journalism, conscious of this, and having tradesman-like habits, supplies their demands". I hope that local journalists will give us more of what is worth knowing - May 3.

Strawberry Fields

Thousands of people thronged the Mġarr parvis and square today for the Festa Frawli; by noon, 7,500 kilos of strawberries had been snapped up! People were spoilt for choice: Fresh strawberries, strawberry risotto, ravioli stuffed with ricotta and strawberries, strawberry milkshakes, smoothies, strawberry wine and chocolate-coated strawberries. To be honest, I couldn't resist tasting a couple, although the Prime Minister was keeping an eye on me. So, instead of Lourdes, today he was my calorie-counter guardian angel as we toured the food stalls!

All in all, it made for an extremely enjoyable outing. The Strawberry Fest is now firmly established in our cultural calendar and for the first time this year, also participated in the Naturalment Malti campaign. The Strawberry Fest follows hot on the heels of the Artichoke Festival in Żabbar and the Chicken and Egg Fair in Dingli. The public is flocking to these events and fresh and genuine products are proving to be great crowd-pullers!

I take my hat off to the Mġarr local council, the Kummissjoni Lejla Mġarrija and the team from the Agriculture Department for their indefatigable efforts. But the biggest "prosit" and "grazzi" must go to the Mġarr farmers who were hard at work in their fields and greenhouses at the crack of dawn gathering strawberries for the public to enjoy. The response was so overwhelming that although the activity was supposed to start at 11.15, by 9.30, a sizeable crowd had already gathered there - April 26.

Mr Pullicino is Minister for Resources and Rural Affairs

http://georgepullicino.blogspot.com