Pig’s ear and a pot of gold

I used to think it was merely conspiracy theorists having a field day when talk on the streets made claims such as “Oh well of course it’s because it’s Cospicua, oh, it’s because it’s the South. Oh of course it’s because Dock One cannot pick up before Smart City does”.

But after one year of snail’s pace work involving much air pollution and general discomfort to residents followed by almost one year of total abandonment of the project, I am beginning to wonder. And question whether it isn’t just the north-south divide at work but even a south-south division?

My former dismissive and slightly patronising attitude is receding as I continue to watch workers buzzing all over the government’s pet project in Valletta, as I watch restoration works going at a steady pace along the bastions surrounding Vittoriosa, as I watch the newly started Senglea waterfront project going strong, while back here in Cospicua, the Dock One regeneration project has floundered in a quagmire of total idiocracy. It’s dirty. It’s unpleasant to see, to walk along, to live in (see photo).

Last year the boundary wall was brought down and instead of residents and visitors alike being able to enjoy an uninterrupted view of the beautiful waters, we now have to live with huge piles of rubble and the detritus of abandoned excavation, half-dug up trenches, stinking water festering in abandoned dug-out ditches.

Last year the trees were chopped down and one would have thought a year later that residents would be able to enjoy the first fruits of an embellished and finely landscaped promenade, but instead they have to live with ugly clusters of flourishing wild bushes and weeds which progressively resemble the product of a sci-fi fanatic’s twisted sense of humour.

It is all quite shocking and extremely depressing. It is severely impacting on the quality of life for residents and foreigners alike, foreigners who, please note, out of all the delightful places in the Med chose to invest in Malta in general and in Cospicua in particular, recognising its remarkable heritage and its great potential.

The administrators of the Dock One regeneration project were initially and deservedly applauded for their foresight and recognition of the dock’s great potential and long-overdue embellishment. Two years later and it’s clear they have made a pig’s ear out of a pot of gold. Or is the pot of gold being tapped into but not to the public’s benefit?

It is a shameful and tragic mess which forces me back to my initial remark and ask one question: Why is the Dock One project the only embellishment project that I know of in Malta which has totally floundered? Is it because it’s Cospicua?