The elder daughter of former Labour premier Dom Mintoff has expressed surprise at the government’s decision to scrap the statue of her father that was to be placed in the revamped Castille Square, Valletta.
Ms Mintoff yesterday confirmed her family had approved the winning design of the monument dedicated to her father.
She had also agreed with officials from the Office of the Prime Minister on where exactly the statue would be placed in the square.
“I am very surprised my father’s monument has been scrapped,” Dr Mintoff said. “This is news to me and we were never informed by the OPM about the idea of having some kind of memorial instead of my father’s statue.”
Dr Mintoff said that 18 months ago, following a request by the OPM, she had visited sculptor Alfred Camilleri Cauchi’s studio in Fgura to approve the statue’s final design on behalf of her family.
“We had requested some small modifications so the statue would bear a greater resemblance to my father and the sculptor adhered to our wishes. The design was very good and I gave the go-ahead so that it could be cast and put in Castille Square.”
Request for interview denied
She said she was also shown the precise location for it.
Asked who the agreement was with, Dr Mintoff said Principal Permanent Secretary Mario Cutajar was one of the main officials taking care of the project.
The OPM never told us they were scrapping my father’s statue- Yana Mintoff
Asked whether she preferred a memorial – which the government is now proposing – instead of the monument, Dr Mintoff was quite frank.
“A monument to my father is his statue. That is what we were promised and what we agreed on.”
The Sunday Times of Malta revealed that the government had abandoned its plans to erect the winning design of Mr Mintoff’s statue as part of the ongoing facelift of Castille Square, which is to be inaugurated before next November’s Commonwealth summit. Renowned sculptor Alfred Camilleri Cauchi had won a competition organised by Heritage Malta in 2013.
Asked to explain the reasons for the change in plans, the OPM’s spokesman did not reply yesterday.
Following the newspaper’s revelations, Mr Cutajar told other media that the government had now commissioned artists to design a memorial to Mr Mintoff, which will be placed in the square next year.
However, despite repeated questions from this newspaper he did not name the artists, nor why the original statue was scrapped. Neither was there a response to a request for a copy of the planned design of the new memorial.
The Times of Malta yesterday asked for an interview with Mr Cutajar about the issue. In a curt reply, his spokeswoman said: “Your request for an interview with the PPS is being denied since this should have been sought before your fictitious story was published yesterday.”
Before publishing the article in The Sunday Times of Malta, replies were sought from the OPM.
Meanwhile, this newspaper yesterday continued to receive complaints from supporters of Mr Mintoff who are objecting to the decision to scrap the original statue.