I refer to the article Parliament In The Pink (April 18) with a view of correcting a couple of inaccuracies.

The quarrying of stone blocks for the erection of buildings in Malta and Gozo has never been done by blasting techniques. This latter technique is carried out in quarries in the production of hard stone aggregate, referred to also as spalls.

The technique of trenching in quarries by the use of wire-saw is practised in the production of large blocks of stone or marble, which are later reduced in size to facilitate handling. According to the report a large proportion of stone blocks used in the erection of the new parliament building at Valletta have been produced by the wire-saw technique. I want to emphasise that this method is definitely not an innovation in Malta, contrary to what is maintained.

The building and civil engineering firm, Constructions Limited, of which I was a director, used this technique for producing stone blocks as far back as 1948, in a quarry at Żurrieq. Unfortunately, the production of stone from this quarry was short lived, because the rock was found to be so heavily fissured that the expenses incurred through waste of stone rendered the running of the quarry uneconomical.

However, the technique worked perfectly. The stone was used in erecting some blocks of apartments in Sliema and the erection of Marshall Court Flats in Rue D’Argens, Gżira, which are still in existence. The attached photograph shows “Marshall Court” under construction: conspicuous by their absence being today’s cranes, as in those days stone was hoisted by manpower using a winch plus shear-legs and pulley, two of which are visible on the top floor.