The government has asked the EU for a grant of €37 million to restore Malta’s two main fortresses – €17 million for St Angelo and €20 million for St Elmo.

Parliamentary Secretary Mario de Marco, responsible for the national heritage, said that Malta should, in the very near future, get a definitive answer from the EU’s regional development fund on this request.

Introducing the financial estimates of Heritage Malta and the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, Dr de Marco said these two historical attractions would contribute to the rehabilitation of Valletta and Cottonera.

Other EU funds amounting to €9.2 million were to be used for projects at the Ġgantija and Tarxien temples and the catacombs.

Malta had also applied for nearly €1 million in funds from Norway on work at the Ħal Saflieni temple.

Dr de Marco announced the setting up of a committee, which includes the opposition, in preparation for celebrating Valletta as European Capital of Culture in 2018.

HeritageMalta was responsible for seven world heritage sites in Malta.

Dr de Marco said 920,000 people visited museums and other sites, with 74,000 entering for free as part of the agency’s social policy to make these sites more accessible.

It organised 50 exhibitions including three international events.

He said the Auberge d’Italie would be turned into a National Art Gallery and house all exhibits at the Fine Arts Museum which would close its doors.

Although revenue in cultural sites in Valletta amounted to €500,000 between July and August last year, the direct and indirect economic impact from cultural activities which amounted to €15 million had a value added of €7 million.

Dr de Marco said that the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage had finalised amendments to the Heritage Act so that warrants would be issued to restorers and conservationists. More than 7,600 people were employed in the heritage, cultural, creativity and media sectors generating four per cent of the GDP.

It was also working on the ratification of Council of Europe and Unesco conventions.

The Superintendence and Heritage Malta were to share human resources in excavation works on archeological sites. The Superintendence had monitored 236 cases of development projects. It was also monitoring the City Gate project. Owen Bonnici (PL) said that when Heritage Malta took over cultural assets that were previously administered by the Department of Museums in 2008, the then Culture Minister Dolores Cristina had argued that €45 million were required to make these cultural assets state of the art.

While one was expected to be amazed by the said sum to be invested in cultural sector, the government had spent €90 million on a new Parliament and a roofless theatre.

Dr Bonnici said he could not understand the spending of €177,000 to celebrate the opening of St George’s Square and consequently reducing €300,000 from the budget of Heritage Malta. The government had a problem in setting its priorities.

Forts such as St Angelo and St Elmo were still in a bad state. While Dr de Marco had argued that the government completed projects such as the tent covering the Tarxien Temples and St Paul’s catacombs, these projects should have been completed last year. Moreover, works in the Domus Romana were undertaken to repair previous works.

Dr Bonnici said that there was a yearly average of one million visits: 95 per cent were foreigners. Tourists visiting for cultural purposes amounted to 17 per cent.

Consequently, one not only had an obligation to safeguard Malta’s identity but also to boost tourism in this regard, which contributed €1 billion to the Maltese economy.

The government spent €500,000 to bring over Ricardo Muti to organise a music academy but the project did not take off.

Winding up the debate, Dr de Marco said that it would be advisable that in the near future, cultural entities would form a committee similar to the House Public Account Committee.

He said that the government had invested in museums through projects in the Hypogeum, Mnajdra temples, the Citadella in Gozo and many other historical sites. Furthermore works had been carried out in St John’s Cathedral, St Catherine’s Church in Valletta and more than €30 million had been allocated to restoring the bastions.

The restoration works carried out this year at Domus Romana involved works on the roof and membrane, which had not been carried out in 2005.

Dr de Marco believed that the relocation of Parliament would result in the President’s Palace becoming a main tourist attraction in Valletta.

Concluding, Dr de Marco said the government was truly putting money where his mouth is and investing in the cultural sector.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.