Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar has welcomed the government's initiative to apply for financial assistance under the European Regional Development Fund with the intention of rehabilitating Fort St Angelo in Vittoriosa.

It also praised his measures taken to remove abusive structures below the Valletta bastions in an illegally closed-off section of the ditch. The fortifications close to the Yellow Garage in Valletta and at the bastions at San Ġwann t'Għuxa, Cospicua are to be restored.

The NGO said it had long been concerned about the lack of funding and the lack of enforcement with regard to Malta's architectural heritage. It renewed its call for a National Restoration Strategy which would allow heritage experts to draw up a plan of action identifying urgent works and then moving on to other heritage sites in need of restoration in an organised and coordinated manner.

FAA stressed that before going for "grand new projects", it was imperative to first safeguard Malta's iconic monuments, like Fort St Angelo, which are still very impressive and form part of the country's collective national heritage and identity.

It said these monuments were key to attracting tourists and foreign investors to Malta. 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.

Such programmes would create employment opportunities for the recession-hit construction industry and would ensure the work carried out on all these different projects was up to high restoration standards.