A monument to the late Dom Mintoff which was to be inaugurated in Castille Place today was not completed in time, and a "substantial" delay is likely, the Times of Malta is informed.
In a call for proposals earlier this year, Heritage Malta said that the €70,000 bronze statue was to be ready in time to be unveiled on the 100th anniversary of Mr Mintoff’s birth.
Contacted by this newspaper, a spokesman for the Mintoff family confirmed there had been a delay and that they had not yet been informed about what the monument will look like.
“The monument has not been scrapped, but there is a delay.
The monument has not been scrapped, but there is a delay. The OPM did not manage to have it ready for the anniversary
“[The Office of the Prime Minister] did not manage to have it ready for the anniversary of his birth, but since the monument is something that will be permanent, it would be better to wait to have the best possible product,” the spokesman added.
Heritage Malta CEO Kenneth Gambin said that everything was on track and a detailed announcement would soon be made.
Asked to verify claims that all was on track when the scheduled unveiling was missed, Mr Gambin said he was never told the monument had to coincide with Mr Mintoff’s 100th birthday. It was pointed out to him that this had been mentioned in the public call.
The call for proposals in January included a tentative schedule noting the announcement of the competitive process to select the best maquette would be made in April so that “the monument [would be] inaugurated in August 2016”.
Principal Permanent Secretary Mario Cutajar, who is coordinating the project on behalf of the Prime Minister, said in an interview the new monument would be inaugurated around the 100th anniversary of Mr Mintoff’s birth.
Asked yesterday to name the artist who has been commissioned to do the project and to say when the monument would now be unveiled, Mr Gambin said he could not give any details. “Announcements will be made shortly,” he said.
An original design for the monument by renowned artist Alfred Camilleri Cauchi, who had won a Heritage Malta commission for it, was scrapped upon the orders of the Office of the Prime Minister.
Architect Valerio Schembri was then commissioned to come up with an abstract memorial in Mr Mintoff’s honour.
However, when Mr Schembri’s model was completed, it transpired that the costs to cast it in bronze would be sky-high and the plan was aborted.
Eventually, the Office of the Prime Minister instructed Heritage Malta to launch a new competition for the monument.
A former Labour Party leader, Mr Mintoff was born on August 6, 1916 and served as prime minister between 1955 and 1958 and again between 1971 and 1984. He was 96 when he died in 2012.