A register of Valletta properties

The Times reported on a proposal by the mayor of Valletta to take action (finally) on the maintenance of certain façades in the capital that contribute to giving the city a shabby look. This theme was also covered in an editorial entitled Dangerous And Unsightly Valletta Buildings that rightly points out the difficulties involved in implementing the mayor's proposal. Both items, however, fail to point out that, if the registration of property is allowed to proceed, the matter raised by the mayor can be resolved in a better way.

During my 20 years as executive coordinator of the Valletta Rehabilitation Project we took very strong action against the shabby look of Valletta because, beyond the beauty of the major edifices, a lot of which have been restored, the state of abandoned buildings and shops do give a negative image of the city. A large number of public and important private façades (such as churches) were restored by the VRP as were all corner statues and other important elements.

A three-year effort was made to remove a tremendous amount of overhead telephone and other cables (remember the "jungle" at the corner of Old Bakery Street with St Lucia Street) and a project was launched to register all property in Valletta (but also in Floriana and the Cottonera area).

The project to register all property was, however, abandoned by the government after it had already produced very important results. The project was a joint effort between the VRP and the Land Registry Department. Amendments were made to the law, as proposed by the then Registrar, Godwin Grima, and approved by both sides, to arrive at a situation whereby all property would be registered and giving the government the right to register "on behalf of unknown owners" without going back to the requisition system of the past. A special office was established and work had moved ahead considerably on former Church and government property, yielding very interesting results. The plan was to then move into the private sector but, at some stage, the whole process was stopped.

Had it been allowed to continue we could have had a clear report about the state of the property, about their owners and, in particular, it would have identified the property that, for some reason or other (usually either owners being abroad or a multitude of owners] has been "abandoned".

This is the solution to the issue and I cannot understand why, once more, action is not taken to continue a massive task that had already been started. While I personally welcome the move of the mayor and wish him the best of luck in this effort, surely the solution lies in continuing the registration of property. (By the way, the exercise even helped the government to collect revenue that was "lost".)

Efforts should also continue to obtain better results with regard to shop fronts. The VRP and the planning authority had established a shop front design policy and a list of scheduled façades. In spite of this, more than half of those shop fronts were changed over a weekend. True, there have been great improvements in the design of shop fronts but it is also a fact that we have "lost" many historic shop fronts and signs. As usual, enforcement is terribly lacking.

One last point. An effort was started by Mepa and the VRP to remove all illegal air conditioners. Hundreds were removed or relocated. The change was tremendous. Yet, even this project was abandoned just as it reached the end. So much effort had been put in but, alas, the project was never brought to its conclusion.

So much could be done for Valletta but the constant attitude to re-invent the wheel rather than continue on work done over 20 years is just unexplainable and unacceptable.