FWA welcomes eviction of squatters at Cospicua

Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna has welcomed the removal of squatters from the ex-service Romney huts at St. Clements's Retrenchment ditch at Cospicua by the Estate Management Directorate.

"It is now time for such structures to be dismantled from this place for the area to be rehabilitated. The exercise should be extended to all parts of the historic Cottonera Lines which are littered with similar abuses," the foundation said.

Romney huts were a temporary form of naval and military hutting which evolved from the much smaller Nissen hut developed by Major Peter Norman Nissen of the Royal Engineers in 1916.A Romney hut is shaped like a half cylinder and is built from curved corrugated metal sheets overlapping one another to create a continuous water-tight skin. This rests on a curved metal frame made from tube sections bolted together.

When designing these structures, Nissen had ease of portability and construction in mind. Thousands of these huts were built throughout World War Two and the military kept using them well into the 1970s.

The Romney huts in Cospicua are from the immediate post-war years and were used as military stores.