I am suspicious whenever someone elevates themselves as the sole protectors of something. This is certainly increasingly the case with Astrid Vella, who, as far as I am concerned lost all sense of balance falling into a petty fundamentalist attitude. Maybe she can be justified by the not so transparent procedures at Mepa and the abuse of clout power by the large developers, but the way she went head on against the proposal by the St John's Co-Cathedral Foundation is nothing short of blinkered fundamentalism.

I was in full support of the project, granted that the EIA did not determine potential danger to the building, and I believe that beyond its intrinsic benefit to the economic and social value of the cathedral's museum itself, it would have had considerable positive spill-over effect on the touristic and social regenerative process of Valletta. The alternative of spreading the museum's treasures around Valletta is a non starter as among other considerations it weakens the marketability of same and incurs huge recurrent costs at least in terms of security.

Moreover, in Ms Vella's vein of sprouting doubt about the integrity of all and sundry involved in projects that do not fit her fundamentalist view, I am suspicious about the group's insistence that the foundation should purchase private palazzos in the vicinity for exhibition purposes - anyone who has had the opportunity to see these palazzos knows perfectly well that unless they are stripped down on the inside, they are perfectly unsuitable for that scope, apart from irreversibly damaging their own potential.

My view on Ms Vella's fundamentalist approach was confirmed last Monday when she was on the panel of a TV discussion with Mgr. Calleja and a couple of other project relevant individuals. The way she interpreted opinions and attacked those who have a more balanced view about the project was shallow and rude. Moreover, directly or indirectly recruiting people like Jeffery Pullicino Orlando does not help shed the fundamentalist stance of her position.