A national project for all Maltese, present and future (1)

When the world renowned Renzo Piano revealed his plans for the entrance and principal edifices that would help to give Valletta the dignity it had enjoyed when it was first built some 400 years ago, many, including myself, held our breath in wonder at the way in which this project could be analysed, decimated and criticised. Of course, this is nothing new for these islands; we seem to have a knack of creating issues where there is little or no ground.

We have this ability to denounce someone else's idea, many times because we did not think about it in the first place! Still, that is human nature I suppose... always thinking about the grass next door and ignoring the patch under our own feet.

We have waited a long time, too long, for this regeneration project. In the post war years of 1945, the two town planners commissioned by the colonial government did recommend some interesting new concepts such as the open spaces in Valletta and Cottonera (at St John's Square and at Piazza Gavino Gulia in Cospicua).

They even proposed some new designs for the Opera House interior - but then these were shelved because of the lack of consensus. There were other attempts to rebuild the Opera House in the 1950s when we had another proposal by the Italian architect, Zavellani Rossi, but this fell by the wayside.

Over the past 20 years, a number of ideas were muted by the government and entrepreneurs, but now this latest attempt by Renzo Piano seems very likely - it has the depth, the breadth and the characteristics that will breathe new life into our capital city, Valletta. After all, this unique 16th century walled town deserves another chance to live and to breathe again - it is a unique world heritage site that, unfortunately, has had to suffer from malnutrition, social disease and other malodorous maladies because of our so called "progressive" culture.

Yet, this town is an important attraction for visitors arriving on cruise ships as well as those staying for a few days. They deserve to experience the Grand Town commissioned by Jean de Valette in its entirety. More than that, we deserve to boast of a capital city today that can ooze, history, tradition and character.

What Mr Piano is trying to achieve in his designs of the entrance to the city through the Porta San Giorgio area and the old railway terminus site is more than a regeneration.

It should create an air of living history such as has never been experienced for over 70 years in this part of town; it will complement the new enhancements at Fort St Elmo and the waterfront and the vertical connection at the Upper Barrakka Gardens.

This is no time to quibble over trivialities, it is a time to support the work which this government is proposing so that maybe, just maybe, we can all have clear consciences about what we will be leaving future generations.

The Prime Minister mentioned a number of interesting events that will be coming up over the next decade including the 450th anniversary of the laying of the foundations of the walled town of Valletta and the Maltese Presidency of the EU - our city has to be our showcase, but it means that we need to clean up our act now.

It means that rather than finding excuses why we should not make this town more attractive, we should work together and treat this as a National Project for All Maltese - present and future.