A Valletta gem that has been left to rot

I would like to draw the attention of the Valletta local council, the Malta Environment and Planning Authority and the Department of Health to the place known as Is-Suq in Merchants Street, Valletta.

It is amazing to me how a place so unique in Malta, by being so different, architecturally speaking, from all the other buildings we have in the capital, and possibly in Malta as a whole, has been left to rot, fall apart and turn into some ghetto where hygiene is virtually inexistent.

I pity the place just as much as the persons who dare to venture within, myself included, and who are sure to be faced with nothing but sadness and decay.

Anyone who has been to Ireland will know what I mean if I say that by the use of some, or rather, a considerable amount of imagination, one could visualise this place as a proper, miniature, St Stephen’s Green.

The ceiling in Is-Suq is very much the same as that in St Stephen’s Green, except for the fact that in the latter establishment the paintwork is pristine and the level of cleanliness exorbitant.

Are no plans in store for this site?

Can it not be cleaned and turned into a place one would gladly venture for coffee and to read the paper?

I have always imagined it as an art gallery. With its large, light-flooding windows and large open spaces, I think it would be a gem of a gallery.

And while we’re at it, I had been told there are plans for the restoration of the niches around Valletta. Is this indeed so? I have not seen any restored ones yet and some niches are in desperate need of attention.