Workers closed off much of Freedom Square today as work on the Valletta City Gate project got under way.

Parliament House is to be built on the site.

The first phase of the work will involve exploratory drilling of a series of holes to establish the nature of rock formations. Investigations will be carried out on the area between the shopping arcade and St James bastion.

The open space which was Freedom Square was created after the war, the area having previously been built-up.

Mepa gave the go-ahead for the project a week ago.

The Resources Authority said the current hoarding is temporary. Permanent hoarding will be set up in May to completely close Freedom Square and the site of the former opera house.

For the moment, taxis and the Park and Ride Service can continue to operate from Freedom Square.

The work is being coordinated by architects from Renzo Piano's Office and architects from Architecture Projects. The Project Management contract had been won by Bovis Land Lease International.

The Infrastructure Ministry said the customer care number for this project is 2122 7461.

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