The government is going to burn upwards of a third of a million euros on its ‘eternal flame’, an abstract bronze memorial to Dom Mintoff which it had discarded but is now recycling into a “monument to celebrate the Maltese”.

The ‘eternal flame’ is due to be inaugurated in May by the Prime Minister in its chosen site opposite the Central Bank in Valletta, just off Castille Place.

This newspaper is reliably informed that the government has already spent more than €305,000 on the abstract bronze, by artist Valerio Schembri, and will have spent close to €350,000 by the time it is ready to be inaugurated.

The government has repeatedly refused to give a breakdown of the costs of the new monument, originally commissioned as an abstract work of art commemorating former Prime Minster Dom Mintoff.

A senior Heritage Malta official who preferred to remain unnamed told this newspaper that Mr Schembri had been paid €95,000 for the concept, design and build of the frame, while the cost of the bronze casting add up to another €210,000.

“So far, we have received invoices requesting payment of €305,000 to be settled by Heritage Malta,” the senior official told The Sunday Times of Malta.

“These costs are still preliminary and are expected to rise further as we still need to pay for the transport of such a heavy structure from Italy to Malta and for the infrastructural works going on in the parking area of the Central Bank where the new monument has been placed.” According to the official, the final cost will come close to €350,000.

Commissioned in 2014 on the direct instructions of the Office of the Prime Minister, Mr Schembri was told to come up with an abstract memorial to commemorate the fiery late Labour Prime Minister.

This newspaper broke the news that Mintoff’s life was to be commemorated with an abstract flame rather than with a figurative monument similar to the ones depicting former Prime Ministers Paul Boffa and George Borg Olivier at Castille Place.

The OPM then came under intense pressure, mainly from PL stalwarts, to drop the idea and go for a traditional monument.

At first, the government’s Principal Permanent Secretary Mario Cutajar, a former member of Mintoff’s private secretariat, objected and insisted publicly that an abstract monument would be a better fit for Dom Mintoff.

But he then reversed the decision and ordered Heritage Malta to commission another artist – Noel Galea Bason – to create a statute of Mr Mintoff.

Since the abstract flame had already been commissioned and work was already half way done, the government had to find another use for the monument.

A few weeks ago, the government announced in a statement that the massive five-metre high structure would now become a “Monument to the Maltese People”.

This is the second controversial monument to be placed in front of the Prime Minister’s office under the current administration.

In 2015, on the occasion of the EU Migration summit held in Malta, the government installed  a monument symbolising unity which came in for heavy criticism.