There is a lot of potential in the old market site in Merchant Street, Valletta, which is very much in a sorry state. There are just a handful of stalls left whose owners, I am sure, are struggling to make ends meet. The idea to build the extra floor is mind boggling; it is a scary ghost from the past.

One cannot go back. The suq tal belt (Valletta market) was destroyed many years ago by a certain politician who moved it to Floriana. What is needed now is to take it back to the original one level and refurbish the units.

I fully concur with what they did in London’s Covent Garden and other old Victorian market places in the midlands and northern England. These places are thriving after they were painstakingly restored. The architecture is sublime and a relic of the Victorian era.

This gem in the centre of our beautiful capital city needs to be preserved before it is too late. There is so much it can be used for: crafts market, eating places and, maybe, select food stalls. The centre area could provide an ideal compromise for a small theatre. If we are taking the regeneration of Valletta seriously then the old market should be top of the list.