The Times carried the two-page spread End Of Pinto’s Six-Year Silence At Last (November 18).

On Sunday at about 3.30 p.m., while in Valletta, I took the opportunity to go along and see the newly restored clock but was utterly disappointed because the most important part of it was not working.

Pinto’s Clock, as is known, has four dials. The middle one shows the hour and the others show the month, the day and the lunar phase.

While the three small dials (month, day and lunar phase) were working , the all-important hour clock was not. So the four copper laminated figures representing Moorish slaves remained inactive. These are supposed to sling sideways when striking the bells on the hour and every 15 minutes.

According to the report the façade, the clock mechanism, the bells and the jacquemarts (laminated figures) have been restored to their former glory at a cost of €120,000. It would be a pity if we had to to wait for another six years for the clock to start working again.