Midi chief executive officer, Ben Muscat, has confirmed that “the Lazaretto building, after an age of dilapidation, will be fully restored and reused as a combination of residential, hospitality, leisure and cultural spaces”.
Who is Mr Muscat trying to fool with his play on words? “Residential” means flats; “hospitality” means hotel, “leisure” means casino!
We now have it from the horse’s mouth that the historical Lazzaretto building on Manoel Island, a historical property belonging to all the Maltese people, is going to end up the commercial enterprise of a private entrepreneur.
On witnessing Midi’s interpretation of words and meanings, I shudder to think what “cultural spaces” would stand for in the commoners’ language.