"Bridge reconstruction is one of the projects for regeneration of the harbour region."

A call for tenders for the reconstruction of the bridge connecting the Grand Harbour breakwater to Fort St Elmo will be issued next month.

The bridge, which had been completed in 1906, was destroyed in 1941 in an attack by the Italian navy. The original pillars are still standing and are scheduled, which means they cannot be touched.

The new steel bridge, expected to cost about €2.8 million, will be financed by the Malta Maritime Authority.

The Works Division had originally filed an application for the reconstruction with the Malta Environment and Planning Authority in 2002.

Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt said the Mepa permits were expected to be in hand next month after which the tendering process would get underway. He said the project was just one of many the government had committed itself for the regeneration of the Grand Harbour region.

The plan is for the new bridge to be open to the public once it is completed by 2010. However, for safety reasons, there will be no public access along the breakwater.

He said the original plan had been to reconstruct a replica of the original Victorian bridge but this had a lot of steel and was not a cost-effective option, so fresh plans were drawn up.

The government has been working hard on several of the projects it had proposed prior to the election nine months ago, said the minister. Among them were St Elmo project, the lift to link Larcaris wharf to the Upper Barrakka, the removal of the tank cleaning facility, the privatisation of Malta Shipyards and the project for the regeneration of Dock No. 1.