More on the Valletta pole removal

With reference to the rather longish letter of “clarification?” by Alessia Zammit, communications officer at the Parliamentary Secretariat for Tourism, the Environment and Culture (Prompt Action To Remove Unsightly Pole In Valletta, December 23) I feel that my original six-line letter was taken rather personally.

I never implied nor expect that Mario de Marco would have knowledge of all the nuts and bolts that pass through his parliamentary secretariat. We lived through such times quite a few years back and know what this meant.

When Ms Zammit mentioned LN 113 of 2007, I went through it. People always say that Valletta, all of Valletta, is a heritage site. Contrary to what Ms Zammit says, the Malta Environment and Planning Authority should have been informed since the pole: (a) was definitely not aesthetically or otherwise compatible with its location; (b) affected or altered materially the character and, or context of the building or site and its surroundings.

So this shows that after all it was Mepa’s responsibility to remove the pole. Anyway, the best thing about it was that the pole was removed immediately.