The Granaries in Floriana are considered to be a convenient mass gathering venue by the majority of the Maltese population. Very few people know what the granaries are or when they were built. Most people, in fact, don’t care. They only care about the mass meetings or concerts that are held there.

The granaries in St Publius Square were built by Governor Richard More O’Farrell between 1847 and 1851 for the storage of grain. Beneath each of those circular large stones lies a well-like structure that was built to keep the grain within it airtight and fresh.

The granaries were still in use up to the 1960s when modern silos took their place.

This whole granaries area is paved entirely in limestone. Everyone knows that one of the characteristics of limestone is its fragility, yet concert organisers and the contractors that build the stage care little about this. In fact, they bang, drag and at times even throw metal scaffolding material on this soft surface, causing chips, trails and cracks wherever these pieces of metal hit.

A couple of years ago a covering stone was chipped to pieces. Its restoration consisted of re-puzzling everything together with a rough coat of cement. It is still in this condition to this very day.

In my opinion, immediate action must be taken to prevent further damage from occurring.

I suggest that each organiser that opts to use the granaries for an activity, be it political, commercial or otherwise, should be made responsible for any damage occurring during the entire process of setting up and dismantling, and also for damage caused by the attendees.

I also recommend that each organiser should be charged a daily rental fee for the use of the space. Such a fee should be established in proportion to the revenue-generating potential of this prestigious venue.

Apart from appealing to the authorities to give more attention to this historical site, my appeal goes to the population in general: please respect our heritage and handle it with care. This belongs to each and every one of us and once we lose it, we would have lost it forever.