Bulldozers and weevils

Was I not convinced that Herbert Ganado was a conservative in the true and honest sense I would blame him! The epoch making tomes that make up his autobiography entitled, as everybody knows, Rajt Malta Tinbidel which, translated literally, means, “I saw Malta change”, do not imply that the said change was a good one or even a bad one but simply indicate that these books are a chronicle of the life and times of Dr Ganado. It seems however that many people think that Dr Ganado aided and abetted the transformation of Malta to a modern state and forget that sometimes this “change for the sake of it” can lead to terrible transmogrification which sadly is irreversible.

We have, in the last six decades… destroyed far more than what the fabled Italian and German bombings did in WWII!- Kenneth Zammit Tabona

The Maltese landscape is one which is very particular. Being such a tiny island, it is also particularly sensitive to any change wrought on it and therefore it stands to reason that our rural and urban landscapes are to be treated with kid gloves. I recently came across a rather sad and disturbing snippet of information. About a decade ago, during one of those periodic fits of spring cleaning that are launched on what should be our old, silent and sleepy ex capital, Mdina, the four oleander trees in front of Vilhena Palace, as opposed to bushes, were condemned to death on the pretext that oleanders are not indigenous to Malta or some other such rubbish. The fully grown oleanders were removed and replaced by four puny olive saplings. We had forgotten all about the oleanders till only last week a set of photographs were unearthed showing Edward VII planting the oleanders in front of what was then Connaught Hospital. The Duke of Connaught whose name various buildings and organisations still bear today, was resident in Malta. Edward VII and the Duke were brothers.

I had always wondered why the Minister of Works during my childhood years was called Bulldozer. It was something that fascinated me as a child. It was only later that I learned that the late Carmelo Caruana was responsible for the creation of those 1960s abominations that “bulldozed” roads or avenues through ancient villages leading up to the parish churches. Houses and gardens that had contributed to that quaint maze-like atmosphere of Maltese villages were, in Baron Haussmann style, annihilated to oblivion in Qrendi, Żurrieq, Naxxar and Lija to name but four places that are permanently scarred by this insensitive intervention that destroyed the villages’ unique character, that of being built to confuse an invader. I am unaware of what was lost in the process but I am sure that there are readers among you who do.

When one looks at old photographs and realises how much our urban landscape has changed it makes one weep. We have, in the last six decades, all in the name of progress and exigencies of modern living, destroyed far more than what the fabled Italian and German bombings did in WWII! As one of the contributors to the Sliema and St Julians book of Richard Ellis photographs, my heart was literally wrung by the humongous amount of architectural treasures we have lost. It would have been a small measure of consolation were the buildings that replaced lovely houses like the Michele Bellanti designed house at the bottom of Isouard Street or the fabulous Villa Torreggiani been of some architectural value or aesthetic beauty but as you know and I know they are not and I shall not repeat what I think of them even in my kindest moments.

Now it is the turn of Spinola Square in St Julians to suffer one of those cataclysmic transmogrifications that, should the plans that I have been shown materialise, will change it out of all recognition. What has always characterised the square for as long as I can remember are the two statues, one of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the centre, surrounded by mature palm trees of various species, and the statue of St Julian at the bottom of Main Street. These statues are to be seen in a plethora of old photographs and paintings of the once scenic bay where the building that gave it its name, Spinola Palace, has been totally obliterated. One can only see a section of it if one stands to the right of the Love landmark. The plans for Spinola Square entail shoving the statue of the Sacred Heart to the side with not a shadow of a palm tree to be seen anywhere! The nub of it is because the square will now have just one vehicle thoroughfare slicing through it precisely where the Sacred Heart statue and the palms now stand hence what the red palm weevil has not yet done our Ministry of Works and presumably Transport Malta threaten to do.

While I am sure that Transport Malta may have some alternative cunning plan to take the constant heavy traffic that flows through the square at present and knows precisely how a single thoroughfare will cope with it, which I seriously doubt, I cannot imagine anyone in their right mind sitting on the benches in what will be the new landscaped area unless it is raised to the extent that one can avoid the more noxious effects of the unceasing traffic. However this is a consideration that pales into insignificance when one considers how the landmarks that make Spinola Square the icon that it is, will disappear forever. Leave well alone I say.