One of the very first decisions made by the Labour government on its first day in office was to turn off the eternal flames flanking the Floriana War memorial during the day for “cost-cutting reasons”.
As of March 9, the gas-burning flames, which were first lit on April 13 last year to mark the 70th anniversary of the award of the George Cross, are only being lit for 12 hours, from 6pm to 6am every day, instead of round the clock as before.
A gas storage tank was installed under the monument to supply fuel.
The issue flared up when Nationalist Party deputy leader, Beppe Fenech Adami, asked in Parliament why the flames were not burning all the time.
Infrastructure Minister Joe Mizzi replied that “the ornamental flame” was only being lit up from dusk till dawn to save money.
A ministry spokeswoman said that about 1,000 litres a week of propane gas were needed to keep the flames burning for 24 hours a day, costing the Government €28,600 a year.
With the new permanent 12-hour system, she said, the flames would cost the country €19,084.
Essentially, this means that, before March, the amount of money burnt amounted to €78 a day; now the country will be set back by €52 a day.
Not many, it seems, were impressed by the cost-cutting exercise. On social media, several were aghast, claiming that an eternal flame, by its very name, should never be extinguished as a constant reminder of soldiers who laid down their lives for others.
World War II veteran Stanley Clews, 90, from Sliema said: “I feel very bad about it. I have spoken to the few other war veterans who, like me, are still alive and everyone is quite upset about this. They could have waited a couple of years till we’re at the Addolorata (cemetery) before they start switching them on and off.”
Major Clews said war veterans had very much appreciated the idea when the flames were lit last year: “It means a lot to us that there is something that reminds people of those of us who fought in wars.”
Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna president Mario Farrugia disagrees. “Those flames were not part of the original design of the 1938 monument and they should be removed,” he said.
According to Mr Farrugia, the National War Memorial, designed by Maltese architect Louis Naudi, was built to commemorate the fallen of World War I.
“It is a British colonial style: a simple if majestic monument meant to inspire a deep sense of remembrance, that’s why its austerity,” he said.
The eternal flames concept was not British at all, Mr Farrugia noted. “It is very much a French, Italian and Soviet tradition. If you look at the cenotaph in London, there are no eternal flames.”
He said eternal flames were rarely elevated – like the ones installed in Floriana – but were usually embedded in the ground. “They are ugly,” he said.
Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna had voiced disagreement in January 2012 and insisted the that trees at the back of the monument should be removed.
“That monument was built so that, from whichever angle you look at it, you can see each of its four faces representing rows of crosses in perspective,” he said.
According to Mr Farrugia, it was high time that the Maltese learnt that “you cannot improve on art”.
“Art should be left to its own devices,” he insisted.