Five years ago, most artisans making a living at the Crafts Village in Ta' Qali signed the promise of sale agreement on their new workshops.

Wonderful plans for this new project had been shown to these artisans, encouraging them to invest money in this project, which was to become a major tourist attraction in Malta.

A few weeks ago, these same artisans were called by the authorities to extend the promise of sale for the third time in five years and without any certainty on when this project will be started, let alone completed.

All sorts of excuses have been put forward. Lots of money coming from taxpayers has been spent on lawyers, notaries, architects, and project developers who still seem unable to come to any form of agreement.

Meanwhile, the government has completely washed its hands of the responsibilities of the maintenance of the Crafts Village, which is now in a pitiful state.

The majority of tourists who decide to visit find it is a real let-down. Trees are dying and shrubs are no longer taken care of. Skips are full to the brim, leaving no space for the artisans to discard their waste material. Garbage is left behind by young people who attend parties in nearby clubs.

The roads are also in a terrible state, making it near impossible for tourists, especially elderly ones, to make their way. I witnessed an incident where an old lady fell to the ground after stepping in one of the numerous holes, which get bigger and bigger after moderate rainfall.

This applies to the whole place, except for the two roads surrounding the large and renowned enterprises in the area. Strangely enough, those are the only couple of smooth roads.

The Crafts Village has been abandoned by the same government that states there should be a revival of Maltese crafts and that sole owners and small enterprises should be encouraged to start or expand their new business.

Many have paid lip service up till now. But we have still not seen anything concrete.