On Sunday we shall have the inauguration of the project of St George's Square in Valletta. The square has always been there but we have not had the time to appreciate it fully.
For some of us it is easier to refer to this square as the Main Guard, reminding us of the time when the British Services used to hold their parades there. For others it is the square in front of the President's Palace, but not having an identity of its own. For others, still it is nothing more than the car park in central Valletta and more recently the place where the karozzini were also parked.
Whichever way you look at it, we have not had a square on this site that could be enjoyed by the public in general for decades and so this reopening will serve to remind us once more (because we seem to need a great deal of reminding) of the beauty of Valletta.
We have already had a glimpse of how the square would look like when King Juan Carlos of Spain visited Malta at the beginning of last week. Is this much ado about nothing? After all it is only a square. It certainly is not as it brings into focus once more our heritage and the economic importance of this heritage.
This government, like the ones that preceded it, is seeking to extract value from the resources (and heritage sites are part of these resources) that our country has, and every time some voice of dissent has been raised because we have this national habit of believing that our own individual opinion is always better than anyone else's. In the meantime, time is lost and some important projects have even had to be abandoned. Voices of dissent were also aired on the St George's Square project. Thankfully, in this instance government had decided to go ahead with the project.
From an economic viewpoint, it is important to remember the enhancement that such projects have on the so-called "tourism product". It also important to remember that these projects, in themselves, create wealth and economic activity. However, such projects cannot be seen or managed in isolation.
They need to be part of a concerted effort to highlight the value of our heritage, and also to extract social and economic value for the population at large. There are two government initiatives that seem to point that we are moving in this direction, which is the right direction.
In this year's Budget speech the Minister of Finance announced that it is setting up a national investment fund, whose brief includes the management and direction of government commercial property and investment in national projects of a strategic nature for the country. The projects connected to the regeneration of Valletta were given as an example. The aim of this fund is to serve as a long term investment for the country and as such it would be seeking to extract as much economic value as possible from the assets that will be under its management.
The second initiative is, in effect, the one involving the regeneration of the Grand Harbour. There are 20 projects grouped under this initiative, which are all aimed at giving value to the various sites that together make up the Harbour. At the end of it all, it is hoped that we will not only have embellished the area, but we would have also safeguarded our heritage and created vehicles that generate jobs and economic activity.
It is recognised that one of Malta's most historic cores, has been allowed to fall into decrepitude. From Fort Ricasoli all the way round to Marsa and Valletta, and passing by Kalkara, Vittoriosa and Senglea one notes the sheer amount of high quality land that is unused or misused.
St George's Square cannot be a one-off project. Its success should spur government and the Maltese public to seek to maximise the returns that we can get from the few resources that we have. By maximising returns does not mean turning everywhere into a building site, but rehabilitating public property and spaces and ensuring good use for economic and social purposes.
The areas known as Valletta waterfront and Cottonera waterfront, and why not St George's Square, are very good examples of how things should be done.