The start of the new year has been good for the architectural heritage, Flimkien Ghal Ambjent Ahjar said today.

It welcomed the decision by the Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism to apply for financial assistance under the European Regional Development Fund for the rehabilitation of Fort St Angelo and measures taken to remove abusive structures below the Valletta bastions and at San Gwann t-Ghuxa, Cospicua..

The environment NGO renewed its call for a National Restoration Strategy which would allow heritage experts to draw up a plan of action identifying the most urgent works and then moving on to other heritage sites in dire need of restoration or a facelift in an organised and coordinated manner.

"Before going for grand new projects - however positive and beneficial they may be - it is imperative to first safeguard our iconic monuments like St Angelo which are still very impressive and form part of our collective national heritage and identity," the NGO said.

Furthermore the benefits of restoring major monuments went far beyond the bastion walls to the regeneration of their outlying areas like Cottonera and lower Valletta.

FAA also called for a strengthening of established bodies like MEPA's Heritage Unit and the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage whose depleted staff levels inevitably had led to further restoration delays, deterioration and destruction of Malta's heritage.

It also called on the authorities to promote programmes for the retraining of construction personnel to meet the demand for skilled stone restorers required by present and future restoration projects.